Flowers and a photograph of Alexei Navalny are placed near the Russian consulate in Frankfurt, Germany Photo: MICHAEL PROBST/AP
Alexei Navalny’s family is denying him permission access to his body for the third day, his team said, adding that his mother was «not allowed» into the morgue where his remains may be kept.
Russia's prison service said Navalny died after a walk in his Arctic prison on Friday.
His mother Lyudmila left for a remote colony on Saturday, but has still not received access to her son's body.
“Alexey’s mother and his lawyers arrived at the morgue early in the morning. They were not allowed inside. One of the lawyers was literally pushed out. When employees were asked whether Alexei’s body was there, they did not answer,” said Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokeswoman.
On Monday, Russian investigators told the late opposition leader’s mother and his lawyers that an investigation into his death in prison has been “extended,” Ms. Yarmysh added.
“It is unknown how long this will last. The cause of death has not yet been determined. They lie, waste time and don’t even hide it,” said the agency’s interlocutor.
Navalny was in the penal colony IK-3 in the city of Kharp beyond the Arctic Circle. The Yamalo-Nenets district is approximately 1,200 miles from Moscow.
Alexei Navalny's mother Lyudmila and lawyer Vasily Dubkov arrive in Salekhard, Siberia the city closest to where he was being held. Photo: MAXIM SHEMETOV/REUTERS
The charismatic Navalny was Vladimir Putin's main political opponent.
His death occurred three years after being imprisoned in the Far North, in one of the harshest prisons in Russia. His health had been deteriorating for several months.
Putin has not yet commented on the death. The Kremlin said on Monday that the West's reaction with condemnation is unacceptable, but statements from the United States and Europe will not harm the Russian president.
«We consider it absolutely unacceptable to make such, well, frankly speaking, offensive statements,» he said Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
“These statements, of course, cannot cause any harm to the head of our state.”
Russians living in Japan are gathering, to mourn Navalny outside the embassy in Tokyo. Photo: FRANK ROBICHON/SHUTTERSTOCK
The investigation into Navalny's death is being conducted in accordance with Russian law, Peskov said.
When asked how Putin reacted to the news of the death, Peskov replied: “I have nothing to add.”< /p >
On Saturday, Navalny's mother was told in prison that he had died from «sudden death syndrome» — a vague term for various cardiovascular diseases that end in death, according to Navalny's team.
EU considers new sanctions
Foreign ministers The EU will meet Navalny's widow on Monday to send a «message of support» to Kremlin opponents, the bloc's top diplomat said.
«We must send a message of support to the Russian opposition,» the EU's top diplomat said. Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief.
Yulia Navalnaya will join EU ministers in Brussels, where they will weigh options for introducing new sanctions against Putin.
The EU has already introduced them. unprecedented sanctions against Moscow, including against Putin himself, over its invasion of Ukraine, and officials acknowledge it will be difficult to impose further significant measures after Navalny's death.
But Mr Borrell said which expects EU member states to propose new sanctions against those directly responsible for Navalny's treatment, including in the Russian prison system.
“Putin himself bears great responsibility,” Borrell said.
He said Brussels would seek to rename its Global Human Rights Sanctions Blacklist after Navalny became a symbolic move.
Annalena Bärbock, Germany's foreign minister, said ministers would «initiate further sanctions» in connection with Navalny's death.
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