Shortly before the funeral

Navalny’s lawyer arrested in Moscow

The Russian police have taken sometimes brutal action against Navalny sympathizers.(Bild: AFP)

Following Alexei Navalny's death, the Russian regime is now taking action against those close to him. According to media reports, the police have arrested the lawyer of the Kremlin opponent's mother. A public funeral service is probably being sabotaged. 

Last week, the lawyer Vasily Dubkov had accompanied the mother Ludmilla Navalnaya to the "Polar Wolf" prison camp where Navalny died. He ultimately helped to obtain the return of Navalny's body.

"Unlawful behavior"
Dubkov was taken to the police station in Shcherbinka in Moscow, Novaya Gazeta wrote on Tuesday. The defense lawyer for Navalny's mother is accused of "disorderly conduct". 

The Russian police sometimes take brutal action against Navalny sympathizers.(Bild: AFP)

According to the authorities, Navalny died in a penal camp in the Siberian Arctic region of Yamal. The circumstances of his death have not been clarified. The politician, weakened by the 2020 poison attack and repeated solitary confinement in the camp, is said to have collapsed during a tour of the icy prison yard and died despite attempts to resuscitate him. According to Navalny's team, the death certificate mentions "natural" causes. The politician was 47 years old at the time of his death.

Navalny's sympathizers lay candles(Bild: AP)

No one wants to provide a hall for the funeral service
Meanwhile, the organization of a funeral service for the Kremlin critic is also being obstructed by the Russian authorities, according to his team. "After a day of searching, we still haven't found a mourning hall," wrote Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh on the X platform.

Some funeral homes had said they were fully booked, others had refused as soon as Navalny's name was mentioned. "At one point, we were told that the funeral homes had been banned from working with us."

Hundreds of arrests of Navalny sympathizers
After Navalny's body was handed over to his relatives at the weekend, the team announced on Monday that they wanted to organize a public funeral service. The obstacles that have now arisen are not unexpected. The authorities have already cracked down on expressions of grief for President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critic. Hundreds of people have been arrested in Russia while laying flowers for Navalny.