KHARP, Russia (Reuters) -Alexei Navalny’s mom was informed on Saturday that Russia’s most outstanding opposition chief had been struck down by “sudden demise syndrome” and that his physique wouldn’t be handed over to the household till an investigation was accomplished, his crew stated.

Navalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, fell unconscious and died on Friday after a stroll on the “Polar Wolf” penal colony in Kharp, about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, the place he was serving a three-decade sentence, the jail service stated.

Western leaders led by U.S. President Joe Biden paid tribute to Navalny’s braveness and, with out citing proof, accused President Vladimir Putin of being chargeable for the demise. Britain stated there could be penalties for Russia.

The Kremlin stated the West’s response was unacceptable and “completely rabid”. Putin has but to touch upon Navalny’s demise.

Navalny’s 69-year-old mom, Lyudmila, braved Arctic temperatures of minus 30 levels Celsius (minus 22 levels Fahrenheit) on Saturday to go to the penal colony the place her son perished.

She was given an official demise discover stating the time of demise as 2:17 p.m. native time (0917 GMT) on Feb. 16, Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, informed Reuters.

“When Alexei’s lawyer and mom arrived on the colony this morning, they have been informed that the reason for Navalny’s demise was sudden demise syndrome,” Ivan Zhdanov, who directs Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Basis, stated on social media platform X.

“Sudden demise syndrome” is a obscure time period for various cardiac syndromes that trigger sudden cardiac arrest and demise.

It was additionally unclear the place Navalny’s physique was, his crew stated. His mom had been informed that the physique had been taken to Salekhard, the city close to the jail complicated however when she arrived on the morgue it was closed.

NAVALNY’S BODY

When contacted by Navalny’s lawyer, the morgue stated it didn’t have Navalny’s physique, Yarmysh stated.

Later, they have been informed by officers that the physique wouldn’t be handed over till the investigation was full, although earlier that they had been informed that the investigation had found no traces of criminality.

“Proper now we do not have entry to the physique and we do not know for positive the place it’s, and we demand that the Russian authorities instantly give Alexei’s physique to his household,” Yarmysh stated in an interview.

An worker on the solely morgue in Salekhard informed Reuters that Navalny’s physique had not arrived.

The demise of Navalny, a former lawyer, robs the disparate Russian opposition of its most charismatic and brave chief as Putin prepares for an election that can preserve the previous KGB spy in energy till not less than 2030.

Navalny’s supporters – together with within the West – had solid Navalny as a Russian model of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, who would at some point stroll free to steer the nation.

Some Russians, although, dismissed such a view as a basic case of wishful considering, and pointed to an opinion ballot displaying that the majority Russians disapproved of him and that Putin was vastly extra fashionable.

Russian authorities considered Navalny and his supporters as extremists with hyperlinks to the CIA intelligence company, which they are saying is in search of to destabilise Russia. Navalny all the time dismissed accusations he was a CIA asset.

DESPAIR AND APATHY

Some Russians laid flowers in Moscow and different Russian cities to honour Navalny, although in a single day lots of of flowers and candles have been eliminated in black baggage.

In central Moscow, a number of dozen roses and carnations remained within the softening snow on Saturday on the monument to the victims of Soviet repression, which sits within the shadow of the previous KGB headquarters on Lubyanka Sq..

Vladimir Nikitin, 36, was alone laying a carnation on the Solovetsky Stone, which hails from the islands with the identical identify within the White Sea the place one of many first “Gulag” compelled labour camps was based in 1923 by the Bolsheviks.

“Navalny’s demise is horrible: hopes have been smashed,” Nikitin stated. “Navalny was a really critical man, a courageous man and now he’s not with us. He spoke the reality – and that was very harmful as a result of some folks did not like the reality.”

On the “Wall of Sorrow” memorial on the avenue named after Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, some Russians laid flowers beside footage of Navalny. One message learn: “We is not going to neglect, nor we could forgive.”

The OVD-Information protest-monitoring group stated greater than 270 folks had been arrested throughout Russia at conferences and memorials to Navalny since his demise was introduced.

Opponents of Putin stated that Navalny’s demise illustrated simply how harmful Putin’s Russia had develop into 32 years after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union ushered in hopes of a greater future.

“Alexei did not die – he was murdered,” Navalny’s spokeswoman, Yarmysh, stated. His imaginative and prescient, she stated, would dwell on.

“We misplaced our chief, however we did not lose our concepts and our beliefs.”