Thousands queue up for Navalny’s funeral
Russians chanted opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s name on Friday as his coffin was carried into a Moscow church surrounded by police for a funeral that only a few people were allowed to attend.
Navalny’s allies said they believed the service had got underway soon afterwards but could not be sure because the authorities were blocking mobile phone signals in the area. They said thousands of people had come to pay their respects.
A long queue of people around the church hoping to be allowed in to say goodbye clapped and chanted “Navalny! Navalny!” as the coffin was carried through metal barriers blocking the building off.
Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic inside Russia, died at the age of 47 in an Arctic penal colony on Feb. 16., sparking accusations from his supporters that he had been murdered. The Kremlin has denied any state involvement in his death.
The authorities have outlawed his movement as extremist and cast his supporters as US-backed troublemakers out to foment revolution. Previous gatherings of his supporters have been broken up by force.
There was heavy security at the church, an imposing white domed building in a south-eastern Moscow suburb, on Friday morning, with dozens of police vehicles parked nearby.
The Kremlin said any unsanctioned gatherings in support of Navalny would violate the law.
“Just a reminder that we have a law that must be followed. Any unauthorised gatherings will be in violation of the law, and those who participate in them will be held accountable - again, in line with the current law,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
He declined to give any assessment of Navalny as a political figure and said he had nothing to say to Navalny’s family.