An aide for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Saturday that his body has been handed over to his mother.
The director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, Ivan Zhdanov, made the announcement on his Telegram account, according to The Associated Press.
Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh on X, formerly known as Twitter, confirmed that his body was handed over and that she is unsure if officials will let the family have a funeral that would be held “the way the family wants and the way Alexei deserves,” according to Reuters.
[ Alexei Navalny’s spokesperson confirms his death ]
Russia’s prison service announced on Feb. 16 that Navalny died, according to the AP. Yarmysh said that Navalny was “murdered” at a remote penal colony near the Arctic Circle.
[ Report: Imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in Russian prison ]
Navalny, 47, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most visible critics, was serving a 19-year sentence in an Arctic penal colony, considered one of the world’s toughest jails.
Navalny was imprisoned in 2021 after he returned to Russia from Germany. In Germany, he was given treatment after he was poisoned by Novichok, according to CNN. Novichok is a Soviet-era nerve agent. When Navalny made it to Russia, he was arrested and then taken to a penal colony located just north of the Arctic Circle.