THE KREMLIN has made the grotesque claim that Alexei Navalny’s widow wanted him dead – so that she can start her own political career.
The vicious attack comes from close Vladimir Putin crony Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president.
East2WestPutin crony Dmitry Medvedev has claimed Navalny’s widow wanted her husband dead[/caption]
AFPYulia Navalnaya has responded saying his insult is little more than a distraction[/caption]
AFPThe attack comes days after the suspected murder of Russia’s fiercest opposition, Alexei Navalny[/caption]
Yulia Navalnaya, 47, who is currently in the US visiting her daughter Dasha, 23, hit back at “waste of space” Medvedev.
She says he is trying to distract people from the fact Putin murdered her husband.
She has also vowed to carry on Navalny’s work as a prominent opposition figure opposing Putin and his war against Ukraine, and highlighting her belief that he killed him.
“Look at the happy, smiling face of Navalny’s widow [Yulia],” sneered Medvedev.
“The feeling is she waited for this her entire life to start her own political career.
“And she’s already said so.”
She was inundated with messages of support after the televised comment by Medvedev, now Putin’s deputy on Russia’s shadowy security council.
Yulia hit back: “Why are you protecting me from Medvedev, he’s just a waste of space.
“They deliberately push this nobody onto you, so you can vent your anger on him.”
She told supporters: “Write about Putin killing Alexei.
“Write every day. As long as you have the strength.”
She has accused the Russian dictator of murdering her husband in his Arctic jail.
She suggested he used Novichok nerve agent to end his life.
She spoke as 400 people linked to the Russian Orthodox Church, including priests, pleaded with the Putin regime to give up Navalny’s body for burial.
The longer his corpse is held – ostensibly for further investigations on the cause of death – the longer there are suspicions that the authorities are seeking to hide the fact that he was murdered.
The church rarely criticises or even challenges Putin but the letter said: “We urge you to release the body of Alexei Navalny to the family so that his mother, other family members and like-minded people can say goodbye to him and give him a Christian burial.
“This is not only their desire and legal right, but also a duty to God and to the deceased.
“Alexei Navalny was not only an opposition politician, but also a believer, an Orthodox Christian.
“We urge you to respect his memory. Do not overshadow the tragedy of his death by refusing such a simple and humane request.”
But a leading human rights activist specialising in Russian jails, Olga Romanov, said the authorities were highly unlikely to return the body.
A fear is they will cremate his remains and could even bury the ashes without announcing the location.
“I am confident the body will not be given until the elections” on 15 to 17 March, said Romanova, head of Russia Behind Bars organisation.
“I also don’t see the reason why they would give it after the election…
“If we assume that the actual cause of death is torture, then we will not see [the body].”
She is in touch secretly with people from the Arctic town where Polar Wolf jail is located.
“I think that everything will be done to ensure that no one ever sees the body of Alexei Navalny,” she said.
Today, however, Alexei Navalny’s mother has finally been allowed to see her son’s body.
Navalny’s mum Lyudmila had originally been blocked from seeing her son’s remains – with Russian officials claiming he had died of “natural causes”.
On February 17, On Saturday, Navalny’s mother and his lawyer were informed he had died of “sudden death syndrome”.
It has since emerged that hospital staff in Salekhard found a collection of bruises on Navalny’s body when he arrived.
A paramedic added: “As an experienced paramedic, I can say that the injuries described by those who saw them appeared to be from convulsions.
“If a person is convulsing and others try to hold him down but the convulsions are very strong, then bruising appears.”
Although, there is also speculation that the bruising on Navalny’s chest was actually caused by a classic, brutal KGB tactic.
Russian-born human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin told The Times that the bruising found on Navalny’s body was consistent with the “one-punch” technique used by KGB special forces operatives.
He said: “I think that they first destroyed his body by keeping him out in the cold for a long time and slowing the blood circulation down to a minimum.
“And then it becomes very easy to kill someone, within seconds, if the operative has some experience in this.
“It is an old method of the KGB’s special forces divisions. They trained their operatives to kill a man with one punch in the heart, in the centre of the body. It was a hallmark of the KGB.”
APYulia Navalnaya has vowed to carry on the work of her husband[/caption]
APYulia is currently in the US visiting her daughter Dasha[/caption]
APThe news comes as Navalny’s mother is finally shown his body[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
