Alexei Navalny "was killed with a punch to the heart". The Times writes this, quoting Vladimir Osechkin, founder of the human rights group Gulagu.net, according to whom the leader of the Russian opposition was eliminated with a technique by agents of the former KGB special forces, after having been exposed to freezing conditions for several hours.
For Osechkin, who reports the version of a source who works in the Arctic penal colony where Navalny died on Friday, the bruises found on the body are compatible with the "single punch" technique. Before his death, the 47-year-old had been forced to spend more than two and a half hours outdoors in an isolation space where temperatures could drop to -27 degrees. As a rule, prisoners are not kept outdoors for more than an hour.
Meanwhile, next month a court in the Russian far north will examine the complaint filed by Navalny's mother, who is prevented from seeing her son's body. Lyudmila Navalnaya, her aides say, reached the remote IK-3 prison where her son died, but from Saturday, when she arrived, she was prevented from seeing the body. According to the Tass news agency, the court has received a complaint for "unlawful acts" and the hearing will take place behind closed doors. The court in the Arctic city of Salekhard will hear the case on March 4, officials said.
(Unioneonline/ss)