Alexei Navalny's mother says she wants to give her son a proper burial after his death. Russian authorities said his body would not be handed to his family for two weeks as a chemical probe is underway.
The mother of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to hand over the body of her son in a video released on Tuesday.
Lyudmila Navalnaya: 'I demand that Alexei's body be released immediately'
"I appeal to you Vladimir Putin, because the solution to this problem depends only on you," Lyudmila Navalnaya said outside of the Arctic prison camp where her son had been been bars. "Let me see my son. I demand that Alexei's body be released immediately so that I can bury him in a humane way."
Navalny's team, citing Russian investigators, said the late opposition leader's body would not be handed over for 14 days, pending a chemical investigation.
Western countries and Navalny backers have pinned the blame on Putin for Navalny's death.
The French Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said it "holds the Russian authorities fully responsible for the death of Alexei Navalny," while calling for "an independent and in-depth investigation."
France also urged the release of all political prisoners in Russia and "expresses in particular its deep concern over the critical state of health of opponent Vladimir Kara-Murza."
Journalist and activist Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in Russia. Putin critic and Kara-Murza's close friend Bill Browder told DW last week during the Munich Security Conference that he was "terrified for his safety and for his well-being."
Source: Dw
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