funeral services refuse to take the body, according to his team

The team of Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny, who died on February 16 in his Arctic prison, affirmed Thursday February 29 that the funeral services refused to take his remains to the church where his funeral is planned for Friday in Moscow. “It’s a real shame. The hearse drivers now refuse to take Alexei away.”lamented on Telegram Ivan Zhdanov, one of the deceased opponent’s close collaborators.

“First, we were not allowed to rent a funeral home to say goodbye to Alexei. And now, when the funeral service is supposed to take place at the church, the funeral agents inform us that no hearse ‘will take the body there’, confirmed his team on social networks. According to her, the funeral teams “receive calls from unknown people threatening them not to take Alexei’s body anywhere”.

Looking for a place for a “public farewell”

The funeral of the opponent and anti-corruption activist is to take place on Friday at 2 p.m. in a church in the southeast of Moscow, the Russian capital, in the district where Alexeï Navalny lived when he was at liberty. He was to be buried two hours later at the nearby Borissovo cemetery. Since the handing over of Alexeï Navalny’s body to his mother last Saturday, the team of the opponent who died at the age of 47 has been looking for a place for a “public farewell”but saw himself “dismiss” any request. She accuses the authorities of putting pressure on the managers.

On Thursday, his team called on Muscovites to come to the opponent’s funeral and for his supporters in other cities and abroad to gather to honor his memory. These gatherings could be embarrassing for the Russian authorities two weeks before the presidential election which should see Vladimir Putin re-elected without opposition. Nearly 400 people were arrested in the days following the death of the opponent for having publicly honored his memory, according to the specialized NGO OVD-Info.