Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s body finally handed over to his mother
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. open image in gallery The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has finally been handed over to his mother, his spokesperson has said It comes after Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, earlier on Saturday accused Putin of “satanism” and mocking Christianity by trying to force her late husband’s mother to agree to a secret funeral. open image in gallery Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, accused Putin of mocking Christianity by trying to force her husband’s mother to agree to a secret funeral In a video released earlier on Saturday, Yulia had demanded the release of her husband’s body in the latest of a series of appeals, saying Lyudmila was being “literally tortured” by Russian authorities who had threatened to bury Navalny in the Arctic prison. open image in gallery Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appears via a video link from the Arctic penal colony in Kharp Lyudmila Navalnaya travelled to the remote IK-3 prison after her son’s death was announced last Friday, but was prevented from seeing his body for almost a week, while the Kremlin appeared to be trying to ensure that a funeral for Navalny did not turn into a public show of support for his ideals. open image in gallery Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny embraces his wife Yulia after being released by a court in Kirov, Russia in July 2013 In a nine-minute video released earlier in the week, Yulia said Navalny had been killed because Mr Putin couldn’t “break him”, and vowed to continue his political activism.