Alexei Navalny’s body was ‘abused’ after death, widow claims, as loved ones fear chaotic funeral plagued by arrests
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s body was “abused” after he was “killed” in his Arctic penal colony, his widow told European lawmakers Wednesday — calling President Vladimir Putin “a monster.”
Putin’s fiercest opponent Navalny, 47, was first “tortured for three years” in a remote Siberian prison, where he was kept in a tiny cell, starved and denied access to the outside world, Yulia Navalnaya told the European Parliament Wednesday morning, according to SkyNews.
“And then they killed him. Even after that they abused his body and abused his mother,” Navalnaya said with steely composure.
Navalny’s body was finally returned to his mother Saturday, more than a week after his Feb. 16 death.
The late opposition leader’s allies have accused Putin’s regime of plotting his death because the former KGB strongman could not tolerate him potentially being freed in a prisoner swap.
Navalny’s loved ones now fear his funeral at Moscow’s Church of the Icon of the Mother of God on Friday will dissolve into chaos “if the police will arrest those coming to say goodbye,” his widow said — calling on world leaders to “innovate” new ways to punish Putin.
“You are not dealing with a politician but with a monster,” she told lawmakers of Putin, who she said is propped up by an “organized criminal gang” and “puppets” who do his bidding.
“There are tens of millions of Russians who are against war, against Putin, against the evil he brings,” she said.
“We must not persecute them. On the contrary, you must work with them. With us.”
Ultimately, Putin “must answer” not only for imprisoning her husband, but also for the war with Ukraine, Navalnaya said.
“My husband will never see what a beautiful Russia of the future will look like, but we must see it. I will do my best to make his dream come true. The evil will fall, and the beautiful future will come,” she concluded before receiving a standing ovation.
Navalnaya remained composed through most of the address – only once glancing at the ceiling as she appeared to become emotional.
