Deceased Kremlin critic
Threatening backdrop before Navalny’s funeral in Moscow
Police officers on the roof of a residential building near the church. photo
© AP/dpa
The public memorial service for the dead opposition figure Navalny and the funeral put the Kremlin on edge. The power apparatus had dozens of emergency vehicles arrive hours in advance.
Russia’s power apparatus has planned today’s funeral for the Kremlin opponent Alexej Navalny set up an unprecedented threatening backdrop for the mourners at the church and at the cemetery.
Metal grilles were set up over a wide area, dozens of emergency vehicles with uniformed officers took up positions early in the morning, and uniformed officers checked documents and personal belongings of passers-by, as Russian media reported. The mobile internet was also turned down. According to reports, there was a notice hanging on the church not to film or take photographs.
According to observers, Navalny, who was considered Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s most important opponent, is putting the power apparatus under extreme tension even after his death. The funeral service at the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Relieve my grief” in the southeastern district of Marjino is scheduled for 2 p.m. local time (12 p.m. CET). The funeral is scheduled two hours later at the Borisovskoye cemetery.
Already many arrests
Strong security forces had recently arrested hundreds of mourners while laying flowers. Putin’s authorities fear that supporters of Navalny, who died in a prison camp two weeks ago, could protest against the Kremlin chief. Putin wants to be confirmed as president in an election in two weeks. Supporters, relatives and human rights activists of Navalny accuse Putin of deliberately killing the Russian opposition leader in custody. The Kremlin rejects this.
“Come to accompany Alexei Navalny on his final journey when you are in Moscow. Everyone who cannot be there for various reasons will thank you,” said opposition figure Leonid Volkov, himself in exile and a close one was a confidant of the Kremlin opponent. Navalny’s team wants to follow the funeral live on the Internet. The German ambassador to Russia, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, also wants to be present, as the German Press Agency learned.
According to authorities, Navalny died on February 16 in the penal camp with the unofficial name “Arctic Wolf” in the Siberian Arctic region of Yamal at the age of 47. The circumstances of his death are not clear. The politician, weakened by the poison attack and repeated solitary confinement in the camp, is said to have collapsed during a tour of the icy prison yard and died despite attempts to resuscitate him. According to Navalny’s team, the death certificate mentions “natural” causes.