Kremlin Denies Pressure On Navalny's Mother About Funeral Of Russian Opposition Leader

Alexei Navalny. (Wikimedia Commons/Micha Total Siergiejevicz)

JAKARTA - The Kremlin on Monday said allegations by Russian authorities had pressured the mother of Russia's late opposition leader Alexei Navalny regarding his funeral were unreasonable, insisting President Vladimir Putin was not involved in making decisions regarding Navalny's body.

A spokesman for Navalny, who suddenly died at the age of 47 in the Arctic colony on February 16, said on Friday Russian authorities had given an ultimatum to his mother, Lyudmila (69) to approve a simple funeral within three hours, or her body would be buried in prison.

Navalny's mother complained the day before about the difficulties she had in getting her son's body, accusing Russian investigators of trying to blackmail him into funeral arrangements.

The body of the late opposition politician was handed over to his mother in the city of Salekhard in the Arctic on Saturday, while funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.

When asked if he would comment on the alleged official pressure on Navalny's mother, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it made no sense.

"I can't comment on anything because the Kremlin has nothing to do with this, so the Kremlin can't put pressure on it. This is another unreasonable statement from supporters (Navalny)," Peskov said.

"Almost everything is wanted (by the Russian government) and almost everything is abroad. Their statements must be treated properly," he said.

When asked whether the petition submitted by Navalny and Yulia's mother, his wife, to President Putin, had helped speed up the handover of the bodies, Peskov said the Russian president was not involved in the process.

"The head of state does not handle this problem in any way. There are certain services and related processes that run according to the rules set for such situations," he explained.

When asked again if President Putin had anything to do with the issue of handing over the bodies, which Navalny's supporters said was slow, Peskov replied, "No".