Britain today imposed sanctions on six people from the management of the penal colony where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died on Friday. London condemned the inhumane conditions in which Navalny was imprisoned in an announcement of an asset freeze and an entry ban. London is demanding that Russian authorities hand over his body to his family. The opposition’s mother Ljudmila Navalná made the same request, the court in Salechard reported on her complaint against the Russian authorities.
“It is evident that the Russian authorities saw Navalny as a threat and repeatedly tried to silence him. No one should doubt the repressive nature of the Russian regime,” said British Foreign Minister David Cameron. Cameron promised to hold the prison management responsible for the brutal treatment of Navalny. Among others, the commander of the colony, Vadim Kalinin, was on the British sanctions list.
Forty-seven-year-old Navalny was imprisoned in a penal colony, which is about 1,900 kilometers from Moscow, lies beyond the Arctic Circle and is considered one of the harshest Russian prisons. Britain criticizes Navalny’s repeated stays in solitary confinement, refusal to provide medical care and mandatory walks in temperatures around minus 32 degrees Celsius.
The mother asks for the body
The court in the town of Salechard said it had received a complaint from the opposition leader’s mother against the authorities for refusing to release her son’s body to the family. The hearing is scheduled for March 4, it will be a closed court session, the court said, according to the state agency TASS. Lyudmila Navalna has been trying to retrieve her son’s body since Saturday and called on Russian President Vladimir Putin for the authorities to hand over her son’s remains so that she could bury him with dignity.
The Investigative Committee refuses to hand over Navalny’s body, claiming that it is conducting an investigation into his death, the Meduza server wrote. Opposition spokeswoman Kira Jarmyš said on Monday that the committee had extended the investigation by at least two weeks and would not finish before March 3.
Navalny died suddenly in prison on Friday, according to Russian authorities. However, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding his death. Navalny’s wife Julija, the opposition politician’s associates and the West blame Putin’s regime for his death. At the same time, members of the opposition’s team accuse the Russian authorities of trying to hide evidence, according to the AP agency.
