Navalny's body has "bruises from seizures"

Alexei Navalny has died in prison, his followers denounce that he was murdered and the authorities do not offer information or access to the body. But the independent Russian media 'Novaya Gazeta Europa' claims that there are “bruises from seizures” on Navalny's body.

On the afternoon of February 16, the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug announced the death of dissident leader Alexei Navalny. According to the department, the politician felt ill after a walk and lost consciousness and died minutes later.

On Saturday, prison authorities told the family that the body was in the morgue in Salekhard, the Arctic city closest to the penitentiary.. When they arrived, it was closed and the workers knew nothing about what is now the most famous corpse in the country.. But according to this Russian newspaper, the body is in the morgue of the Salekhard district clinical hospital.

Normally, the bodies of those who die in prisons are delivered directly to the local Forensic Medicine Office, but for some reason Navalny's mortal remains were taken to the clinic. Local doctors were even prohibited from performing an autopsy.. It seems that they are waiting for doctors sent from Moscow, more obedient to the government. They could already be in the city, according to eyewitnesses, a private jet landed around six in the afternoon and was received by official vehicles of the investigation committee.. A second small plane, also off-schedule, landed at this off-the-beaten-track airfield shortly afterward.

Russian authorities do not allow relatives to see the body, and said they would hand it over when they finished the investigation.. But until February 17, no autopsy had been performed, according to a hospital source, who assures that Navalny's body had bruises but not from external blows, but probably from seizures.. He also had one in his chest, but it could have been due to resuscitation maneuvers.

Everything indicates that the body will remain safe for at least a week. Navalny's lawyer at the Salekhard Investigative Committee was told that the body was sent for a second histological examination, as the cause of death could not be established. The results were promised to be published next week. In the first official explanation, the cause of death was mysteriously called “sudden death syndrome.”. His death occurred on February 16 at 2:17 p.m. local time, according to the notification delivered to Navalny's mother.

Independent Russian media is still trying to find out what really happened in the prison. The chief pathologist at the Salekhard district hospital refused to answer Mediazona's question about where Navalny's body is located.. Sergei Ivchenko immediately hung up the phone after the correspondent's question.

“It is obvious that they are lying and doing everything possible not to hand over the body, says Navalny's press secretary Kira Yarmysh: “We demand that Alexei Navalny's body be immediately handed over to his family”. More than 12,000 people sent appeals to the Investigative Committee demanding that Alexei Navalny's body be returned to his loved ones, human rights entity OVD-Info reports.

The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Western countries of unfoundedly attributing responsibility for Navalny's murder to the Russian Federation. Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov reacted in the same way to the statements of Western leaders.. Russian propagandists on RT and other networks suggested alternative theories that once again exonerate Moscow.. But in dozens of Russian cities, massive demonstrations were held with flower delivery in memory of Alexei Navalny.. There are already more than 400 detainees.