Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death has been confirmed by team. Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh demanded the body to be returned and accused the authorities of lying to delay the process.
In a social media post, Yarmysh said that Navalny was murdered on February 16.
According to CNN, Navalny's mother and lawyer travelled to the penal colony where the leader was being held but after waiting for two hours, they were told the body was sent for an investigation at another facility.
Yarmysh said, "They waited for two hours, after which a colony employee came out to them and stated that the body of Alexey Navalny was in Salekhard [a nearby town], that investigators from the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation had taken it now, and that they were now conducting an investigation on it."
Later, Navalny's mother and the lawyer visited Salekhard town. However, upon reaching the mortuary, they were informed that the body was not there.
Yarmysh said the Russian Investigative Committee on Saturday informed Navalny's other lawyer later that the body will not be handed over to relatives until the probe is complete.
She said, "The results will supposedly be available next week. It's obvious that they are lying and doing everything they can to avoid handing over the body."
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