The funeral of Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny is scheduled to take place on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Moscow.
The announcement came after several locations declined to host the service.
His Spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh announced on X that the funeral will be hosted at the Borisovskoye cemetery after a farewell ceremony starting at 2pm at a church in the Maryino district.
She also urged people to arrive “in advance” if they want to come and pay their respects as many supporters are expected to turn up for the funeral in southern Moscow.
It is unclear whether Navalny’s wife, Yulia, who has been living in Germany since her husband’s arrest in 2021, will be present at the ceremony.
Navalny, Russian President, Vladimir Putin’s strongest domestic critic, fell unconscious and died suddenly aged 47 on February 16, 2024, after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” penal colony where he was serving a three-decade sentence.
Russian authorities said that the cause of his death at age 47 is still unknown.
Many western leaders as well Navalny’s supporters, including his widow, Yulia Navalny hold the Russian President responsible for Navalny’s death.
The Kremlin has denied involvement and said that Western claims that Putin was responsible were unacceptable.
Nonetheless, it is far from clear that the Russian authorities will permit any independent probe after claiming that Navalny likely died from “sudden death syndrome.”
Navalny’s allies faced a battle with Russian authorities to have his body released to them amid accusations that he was poisoned.
Yarmysh spoke of the difficulties encountered in trying to find a site for a “farewell event” for Navalny.
Writing on X, she revealed that most venues said that they were fully booked, with some “refusing when we mention the surname ‘Navalny’,” and one disclosing that “funeral agencies were forbidden to work with us.”
Meanwhile, Ivan Zhdanov, the Director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, stated that the funeral was initially planned for Thursday, February 29, 2024, which happens to be the day of Putin’s annual address to Russia’s federal assembly, but no venue agreed to hold it then.
“Everywhere they refused to give us anything. In some places we were told it was forbidden,” Zhdanov said.
“The real reason is clear. The Kremlin understands that nobody will need Putin and his message on the day we say farewell to Alexei,” Zhdanov wrote on Telegram.
“We don’t care about the message. Alexei needs to be buried … To have a chance to say goodbye, it is better to come in advance,” he added.
Authorities To Prevent A “People’s Funeral”
Exiled journalist, Bozhena Rynska previously claimed that the authorities will prevent “a people’s funeral.”
This refers to an equivalent of the funeral of nuclear physicist and human rights campaigner, Andrei Sakharov in 1989 when mourners flocked to bid him farewell and honour his opposition to Soviet totalitarianism.
Rynska said that they would “block off the area of any cemetery where a funeral is planned and, under various pretexts, prevent the crowd from entering, so as not to create the image of a people’s funeral.”
She noted, “Now the presidential administration is discussing how to prevent a mass procession at the funeral of Alexei Navalny.”
On Tuesday, February 27, 2024, the Kremlin warned Russians not to use Navalny’s funeral as a moment for protests.
‘These people, so-called supporters [of Navalny] are well known for their provocative calls – to break the laws of the Russian Federation,’ Putin’s Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov averred.
He added, “This is a very harmful practice and has legal and law enforcement consequences for those who respond to these calls.”
Making reference to her husband’s funeral in a speech to the European parliament, Yulia Navalnaya said that she was not sure whether the service would be peaceful or whether the police would make arrests.
READ ALSO: Mixed Trading Day at GSE Sees Unilever Ghana Emerge as the Star Performer
