Alexey Navalny’s mother and his lawyers were turned away from the morgue in Salekhard early on Monday, where his body was reportedly taken after he died in prison.
“They were not allowed to go in. One of the lawyers was literally pushed out. When the staff was asked if Alexey’s body was there, they did not answer,” wrote Navalny's press secretary Kira Yarmysh.
Yarmysh later wrote that the Russian Investigative Committee told Navalny's mother and lawyers that “the investigation of the death of Navalny has been extended.” “They don’t say how long it will take. The cause of death is still ‘unknown.’ They lie, buy time for themselves and do not even hide it,” she added.
On February 16, Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service announced Navalny’s death. On Saturday, Navalny’s mother and his lawyer visited the prison where Navalny reportedly was when he died. A prison employee told them that Navalny’s body had been sent to a morgue in Salekhard. When they traveled to the morgue, they learned that it was closed. When the lawyer called the phone number on the door, he was told that the body was not in the morgue.
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