Hundreds of Russian Orthodox clergy have called on the government in Moscow to release the body of Kremlin critic Navalny. His relatives should be able to say goodbye to him and bury him, they wrote.
After the death of Alexei Navalny, around 800 Russian Orthodox clergy and laypeople called on the government in Moscow to release the body of the Kremlin critic who died in a prison camp. “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 distributed by Navalny’s team became.
The believers reminded President Vladimir Putin, who often appears in churches with a candle in his hand, that there are Christian rules: relatives have a right to the funeral. This was not only “her wish and her right, but also her duty towards God and the deceased,” the appeal said. Navalny was not only an opposition politician, “he was also a religious person.”
“Remember that everyone is equal before God”
The tragedy of death should not be exacerbated by denying a simple human request, the Russian Orthodox wrote. “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.”
Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, had previously appealed to Putin via video to allow her son to be buried. According to Orthodox custom, believers should be buried on the third day after their death. The Kremlin continues to keep the body of Navalny, who was declared dead on Friday last week, under lock and key. Human rights activists, relatives and supporters accuse Putin of having his opponent murdered in a prison camp. The Kremlin rejects the allegations.
Kremlin critic Kara-Mursa encourages Russians
Meanwhile, Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Mursa, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison, encouraged his compatriots after Navalny’s death. “Alexei said: ‘Don’t give up. It’s impossible to give up,'” Kara-Mursa said from solitary confinement in a penal colony in Siberia. “If we give in to gloom and despair, that’s exactly what they want.”
According to Kara-Mursa, giving up the fight for democracy after Navalny’s death is not an option. “We have no right to do this, we owe it to our fallen comrades.” He expressed the hope “to make Russia a normal, free, European and democratic country.” Kara-Mursa said there is a group of professional killers in Russian intelligence whose job it is to eliminate opponents of Putin’s system of government.
The Kremlin critic was found guilty in April 2023 of spreading “false information” about the Russian army and having connections to an “undesirable organization.” At the end of January, according to his lawyer, he was placed in solitary confinement for four months. The sentence of 25 years in prison is the longest known prison sentence for a critic of Putin. Like Navalny recently, Kara-Mursa also suffers from serious health problems.