It has been three days since Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny died in prison, in unclear conditions, and his relatives are still trying to go to his remains. “Investigators told lawyers and [sa] mother that they will not return her body on which a so-called ‘chemical expertise’ will be carried out for 14 days”, wrote the opponent’s spokesperson, Kira Iarmych, in a message posted on the social network Monday February 19. The family doubts the version of the Russian authorities and accuses them of “lie”.
His widow decided to continue the fight. “I will continue his work”, declared Yulia Navalnaïa in a video addressed to the Russians. She promised to continue the fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin led by her husband and called on her supporters to join her. “It’s not a shame to do little, it’s a shame to do nothing, it’s a shame to let yourself be frightened.”
The Russian ambassador summoned to Germany. The German Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador to Berlin, a government spokeswoman said on Monday. She denounced “brutality” with which “the Russian justice system acts against those who think differently”. The British government, for its part, summoned diplomats from the Russian embassy on Friday evening.
Tributes quickly repressed. Dozens of Russians continued to lay flowers on a monument in Moscow to honor the memory of opponent Alexeï Navalny, who died in prison, despite the hundreds of arrests which took place in the preceding days. Nearly 400 people have been arrested across Russia and at least 150 have been sentenced to short prison terms in the past three days.