Vassili Dubkov, accused of disrupting public order to claim the body of the Russian dissident
Vladimir Putin’s regime today arrested in Moscow the lawyer Vassili Dubkov, who represented the family of Aleksei Navalni, the Russian dissident who died in a prison in northern Siberia last month. As reported by the independent media Novaya Gazeta Europa and SOTA, Dubkov has been accused of disrupting public order, after last week he accompanied Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, to demand and collect her son’s remains. In addition to Dubkov, more than ten people have been arrested in Russia for violating the Prosecutor’s Office’s order not to participate in public events in honor of Navalny.
Dubkov, Navalny’s lawyer for three years
Dubkov had been one of the Russian opposition’s lawyers for three years, and had been by his mother’s side on several occasions since her death on February 16. In fact, he was one of the lawyers who accompanied Liudmila Navalnaya to the office of the Investigative Committee in Salekhard, the city closest to the prison where Aleksei Navalni was held. Dubkov has not been the only lawyer for Navalny detained, as four of his colleagues working for the Russian opposition have been jailed by the Kremlin at some point: in fact, three of them have been in pre-trial detention since October Two more of Navalni’s lawyers have fled the country and are being sought and claimed by Russia’s authoritarian government.
Navalny’s funeral, scheduled for this week in Moscow
After receiving the body from the family last Saturday, the spokeswoman for the Russian opposition, Kira Iarmix, has announced that the funeral will take place this week in Moscow. “We are looking for a venue for Aleksei’s public farewell at the end of this working week. If you have a suitable space, please contact us,” he wrote to X. According to the government-affiliated Telegram channel Shot, Navalny will be buried on February 29, coinciding with Vladimir Putin’s State of the Nation address, at Borisovo Cemetery, south of the Russian capital.
The Kremlin denies any involvement in Navalny’s death
Thousands of people are expected to attend Navalny’s funeral, which the Kremlin fears will become an expression of popular discontent against Putin. “The Kremlin has nothing to do with this. It is clear that the Kremlin cannot exert any pressure. This is another absurd claim by its supporters,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at his daily telephone press conference. The official medical certificate states that Navalny died of “natural causes” in the “Polar Wolf” prison, a version rejected by the opposition’s supporters, who accuse Putin of murdering their leader. So does the opposition’s widow, Iúlia Navàlnaia.
