Mystery of Alexei Navalny's missing body as mum 'not allowed into morgue'
Alexei Navalny’s mother has still not been able to see the body of the Russian opposition leader as she has not been given access to the morgue.
A midnight motorcade is suspected to have taken Navalny’s body from his Siberian prison into hiding from his family. A UAZ van - believed to be carrying the corpse - was seen in a convoy of prison vehicles and two highway patrol police cars.
It follows the death of Navalny, 47, who is widely believed among his supporters and Western experts to have been murdered by Vladimir Putin ’s regime ahead of next month’s Russian presidential election. One car is unmarked, possibly an FSB security service escort. The 35-mile midnight dash in a temperature of minus 30C started on the day Navalny is alleged to have died - Friday - and continued early on Saturday.
It came ahead of Navalny’s mother Lyudmila, 69, and lawyer arriving at the jail the following morning seeking to collect the body. The Soviet-designed Federal Penitentiary Service van believed to be carrying Navalny is nicknamed a ‘Buhan ka’ - or Bread loaf.
The drive from the Polar Wolf jail in Kharp went first to Labytnangi, and then crossed the frozen Ob, the world’s seventh longest river, to Salekhard, according to independent news outlet Mediazona which obtained the footage of the macabre trip.
Russian model killed after calling Putin a 'psychopath' was strangled by her ex
The journey across the thick ice may have ended at a hospital morgue, where paramedics revealed Navalny’s body was covered in bruises, according to another news outlet, Novaya Gazeta Europe. But prison staff told Lyudmila and the lawyer that the body was at a different morgue. “Navalny’s mother and lawyer, who came to the colony in Kharp, were sent to the Salekhard [district] morgue,” said Mediazona. “But there, they were told that they did not have the body of a politician.”
Candles and a photo laid in a tribute to the opposition leader (AFP via Getty Images)Today Navalny's mother and lawyers were barred from a morgue in Salekhard as they sought to find his missing body. "Early in the morning, Alexei’s mother and lawyers arrived at the morgue," said Navalny's press spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh. "They are not allowed inside.
"One of the lawyers was literally pushed out. When asked whether Alexei’s body was there, the employees did not answer." The outlet said the surveillance camera footage they obtained “confirms that Navalny’s body was deliberately hidden from his family. “Together with thousands of Russians, the editors of Mediazona demand that the politician’s body be returned to his family.” The family has now been told checks are still underway to establish the cause of death, even though they had said he died of a “blood clot” or “sudden death syndrome”.
The next shock for the family was the bruising claim. The wounds were consistent with a “seizure”, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe. A paramedic told how his ambulance colleagues found bruises on Navalny’s body, which was under police guard in the morgue at Salekhard clinical hospital.
“Such damage occurs from convulsions,” said the paramedic. “The person is convulsing, they are trying to restrain him, but the convulsions can be very strong, and that’s why bruises appear.” There were also signs that jail medics had tried to resuscitate Navalny, because there were signs of “chest compressions”. “That is, they still tried to resuscitate him, and he died, most likely, from cardiac arrest. But why this stop happened, no one is saying anything yet.” There is no current confirmation of the whereabouts of his body
The timing of Navalny’s death - given as 14:17 local time on Friday - is also seen as suspicious. Evidence from an inmate suggests he died during the previous night. One theory is that the body or biomaterial may be taken to Moscow for a post-mortem.
Over 46,000 people have signed a petition - started by Novaya Gazeta Europe - demanding Navalny's body is given to his family. Funerals are normally held on the third day after death but there is no sign the body will be released, which might allow the Navalny team to conduct their own analysis of the cause of death. They are all too aware that in 2020 an attempt was made by Putin’s FSB secret service to assassinate Navalny by poisoning with a nerve agent.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
