Alexei Navalny’s mother has said she has been shown her son’s body, but that the Russian authorities are pressuring her to allow a „secret” burial.
In a video address, Lyudmila Navalnaya said she visited a morgue where she signed a death certificate.
A medical report presented to her stated he died of natural causes.
Lyudmila Navalnaya said the law required officials to hand over her son’s body, but that she was being „blackmailed”, as they refused to do so. She alleges authorities are setting conditions for the burial of her son – the place, time and manner of his burial.
„They want to take me to the outskirts of the cemetery to a fresh grave and say: ‘Here lies your son.'”
Ms Navalnaya travelled to the northern Russian town of Salekhard following the news of her son’s death in a nearby penal colony six days ago.
She has previously been denied access to her son’s body, appealing personally to Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow her to bury him.
Now, in the video address, Lyudmila Navalnaya said she was being threatened by the authorities.
„Looking into my eyes, they say that if I do not agree to a secret funeral, they will do something with my son’s body.”
She said she was told by investigators: „Time is not on your side, the corpse is decomposing.”
She finished the address by demanding his body be returned to her.
The video was posted on Alexey Navalny’s YouTube channel.
There was no immediate response from Russian authorities.
Separately, on Thursday US President Joe Biden met Mr Navalny’s widow Yulia and his daughter Dasha Navalnaya in San Francisco.
„The president expressed his admiration for Alexei Navalny’s extraordinary courage and his legacy of fighting against corruption and for a free and democratic Russia,” the White House said in a statement, adding that the US was preparing to issue new sanctions on Russia.
