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Ivan Zhdanov, an ally of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said on Friday that Russian authorities have given his mother an ultimatum to forgo a public funeral or her son's body will be buried in the prison yard .
Investigators gave Lyudmila Navalnaya three hours to accept a proposal for a private funeral, out of public view, Navalny's close associate Ivan Zhdanov said on social media. Since the Russian dissident's death in prison last week, his mother has been trying to get her son's lifeless body to give him a dignified burial.
Ms Navalnaya is refusing to continue negotiations as she has asked the authorities to follow the law and hand over the body of the deceased within 48 hours of determining the cause of death, which coincides with Saturday, Mr Zhdanov said. She has complained to the authorities, accusing them of desecration of the body, he said.
"She insists that the authorities allow a funeral and memorial service to take place as tradition demands," Mr. Zhdanov said.
47-year-old Navalny, Russia's most popular opposition politician, died suddenly on February 16 in a prison in the Arctic Circle. The event prompted hundreds of Russians across the country to improvise memorial centers with flowers and candles. Russian authorities have arrested a large number of people who have expressed support for the late opposition leader.
Mr Navalny's mother and lawyers have been trying to retrieve his body since late last week, efforts that have won the support of influential Russians such as the Nobel Prize-winning journalist Dmitry Muratov.
In a post on social media he wrote, “You should give Lyudmila the son. It is difficult to talk about this in a country that still considers itself Christian".
In a video statement Thursday from the town of Salekhard in the Arctic Circle, Mrs. Lyudmila Navalnaya said investigators allowed her to view her son's body at the town's morgue.
Mr. Zhdanov announced a reward of 50,000 euros on Friday for "comprehensive information" about the death of oppositionist Navalny./ VOA
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