Alexei Navalny's death not criminal, authorities say, as mother is denied access to his body
Navalny died at 47 as he was serving a 19-year sentence handed out in 2021 on charges of extremism he had decried as politically motivated.
Transcript
00:00 "Alexei Navalny has been confirmed dead," his spokesperson Kira Yermish said.
00:06 But his mother, who travelled to Harp on Saturday near the Russian penal colony where her son
00:12 died, has not been able to see his body.
00:15 The family and his lawyers have demanded the immediate release of his body as the cause
00:20 of his death is still being established.
00:23 "Alexei Navalny has been confirmed dead. His death was on February 16 at 14.17 local time,
00:31 as stated in the official notice given to Alexei's mother.
00:34 Tonight a lawyer and Alexei's mother flew to Slekhart to receive official confirmation
00:39 of his death.
00:40 We demand that his body be released immediately."
00:44 Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service reported that Navalny felt sick after a walk Friday
00:50 and lost consciousness at the penal colony.
00:53 An ambulance was called, however, he could not be resuscitated.
00:57 In Moscow, footage showed police escorting people away from the site of the gathering,
01:02 as over 100 people were detained in eight cities across Russia after they came to lay
01:07 flowers in memory of Navalny, according to a grouped-up monitors political repression
01:12 in Russia.
01:13 [Whoosh]