(Moscow) The Kremlin on Tuesday rejected the “gross and unfounded” accusations of the widow of Alexeï Navalny, who claimed the day before that President Vladimir Putin had her husband, number one opponent of the Russian regime, killed in prison.
“Of course, these are gross and completely unfounded accusations against the Russian head of state, but given that Yulia Navalnaya became a widow a few days ago, I will not comment,” said the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
“Vladimir Putin killed my husband, Alexei Navalny. Putin killed the father of my children […] With him, (Putin) wanted to kill our hope, our freedom, our future,” Yulia Navalnaïa said on Monday, announcing that she was going to continue her late husband’s fight.
The Kremlin spokesperson also considered justified the arrests of people paying tribute to Navalny by peacefully laying flowers in front of monuments in memory of victims of Soviet political repression.
“Law enforcement acts within the law,” he said.
Finally, he described as routine the promotion by Mr. Putin on Monday of senior officials of the Russian penitentiary services, three days after the death in prison of the opponent.
“These are normal processes of advancement,” commented Mr. Peskov.
Alexeï Navalny, who was serving a 19-year prison sentence for “extremism” in a camp in the Russian Arctic, died on February 16 in detention.
Citing ongoing forensic procedures, Russian authorities have so far refused to return the body to his family, so his supporters consider that the Russian regime is trying to cover up a murder. Accusations also rejected by the Kremlin.
The Western world strongly denounced the death of the opponent, imprisoned for more than three years, and judged the master of the Kremlin responsible. Vladimir Putin was “informed” of the death, according to his spokesperson, but did not comment.