Two weeks after his death, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny will be buried on Friday at the Borisovskoye Cemetery. As Navalny's family and his team organise the funeral, they are finding it difficult to find a hearse that will move the body to the church.
“Unknown people are calling mortuaries and threatening them if they accept to take Alexei’s body,” Kira Yarmysh, Navalny's spokesperson told CNN. Navalny's funeral service will be held at the Our Lady Quench My Sorrows, in Maryino and will be streamed on his YouTube channel.
Initially, his team had planned a public farewell and funeral for the opposition leader, but, no cemetery workers were available to dig the grave. Several venues claimed they were busy and one venue said that they were forbidden to work with Navalny's team.
Navalny died unexpectedly on February 16 at the age of 47. It took over a week for his family to get his body. His family and his team have blamed President Putin for his death in an Arctic prison.
“Putin killed my husband,” Yulia Navalnaya said during a speech at the European Parliament on Wednesday. “On his orders, Alexei was tortured for three years,” she added, CNN reported.
