Updated 07.30 | Published 07.13
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full screen A lifting crane lowers the riot fence outside the church in Moscow where the funeral ceremony for Alexei Navalny is being held. Photo: AP/TT
The Russian regime critic Alexei Navalny is laid to rest, two weeks after his death in a penal colony in Siberia.
Navalny’s widow is afraid of unrest in connection with the funeral. Riot police and cordons around the church were already in place on Thursday.
Yulia Navalnaya said in a speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday that she fears that the police will make arrests among those who want to say goodbye to her husband.
The fortunes after Navalny’s death have been many. It wasn’t until eight days after the death notice that his mother got the body home, after rejecting the authorities’ demands for a secret burial.
Silence from Putin
Some major manifestations of mourning, such as at the funerals of former opposition leaders, are considered unlikely by analysts due to the increased repression in Russia.
The Kremlin is believed to prefer to hush up Navalny’s death and President Vladimir Putin has still not even commented on the death. Hundreds of people who wanted to honor Navalny after his death have been arrested around the country.
– There will certainly be supporters of Navalny who want to join, and there are pictures and reports that the police have taken various measures to block off parts of Moscow – built riot fences and so on. Certainly they will try to prevent larger crowds from forming, says Martin Kragh at the Foreign Policy Institute.
Threats to hearse drivers
On Thursday, the police began guarding the Moscow district of Marjino where the funeral ceremony is being held, reports EPN.
The service will begin at 2 p.m. local time, and Navalny will be buried afterwards at the Borisovskoye cemetery. According to Navalny’s lawyer Ivan Zhdanov, the original plan was to hold the funeral on Thursday – the same day as President Vladimir Putin’s address to the nation. But this was prevented by the authorities, claims Zhdanov.
Yesterday, Navalny’s associates stated that they are having difficulty finding a hearse driver willing to drive the body to the church. Undertakers in Moscow have received threatening calls from “unknown persons” warning them to transport Navalny, spokesman Kira Jarmysh said at X.