Russia
Clergy demand the Kremlin release Navalny’s body
The Russian power apparatus continues to keep the body of Navalny, who was declared dead on Friday last week, under lock and key. photo
© –/Navalny Life/AP/dpa
Navalny, the Kremlin opponent who died in custody, was also a Christian. Now members of the Russian Orthodox Church are also calling on President Putin to hand over the body for a humane burial.
Hundreds of Russian Orthodox clergy and lay people have appealed to the Moscow power apparatus to release the body of the Kremlin opponent who died in the prison camp Alexei Navalny asked. “We call on you to hand over Alexei Navalny’s body to his family so that his mother, other family members and like-minded people can say goodbye to him and give him a Christian burial,” said the appeal, which was also made by the team on Thursday of the opposition was spread. According to Orthodox custom, believers should be buried on the third day after their death.
The Russian power apparatus continues to keep the body of Navalny, who was declared dead on Friday last week, under lock and key. The 47-year-old’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, had previously addressed President Vladimir Putin via video to demand that he be allowed to bury her son. Human rights activists, relatives and supporters accuse Putin of having his opponent murdered in a prison camp. The Kremlin rejects the allegations.
The Russian Orthodox believers reminded Putin, who often appears in churches with a candle in his hand, that there are Christian rules; the relatives would have a right to the funeral. “This is not only their wish and their right, but also their duty towards God and the deceased,” said the appeal, which has been available on the Internet since Wednesday and included 800 names. “Alexei Navalny was not only an opposition politician, he was also a believer.”
Clergy: “Show mercy”
The tragedy of death should not be made worse by refusing a simple human request. “Remember that everyone is equal before God.” There is a danger that tensions in society will increase even further due to disgrace and inhumanity. “Show mercy and compassion for his mother, his wife, his children and his relatives.”
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. The politician, weakened by a poison attack in 2020 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. The cause of death is unclear.