Vasili Dubkov: Russian authorities detain Navalni's mother's lawyer for a few hours

The Russian security forces detained this Tuesday in Moscow for a few hours the lawyer who defended the mother of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny in her fight to recover her son’s body. Vasili Dubkov, Liudmila Navalnaya’s lawyer, has been accused of disturbing public order, according to independent media Novaya Gazeta Europa y Sota, which do not give details of the accusation. With the brief arrest of Dubkov, who assisted Navalni in the past, there are now four of the opposition’s lawyers who have been detained by the Kremlin; two others are in exile.

Lawyers Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser have been in pre-trial detention since October. The Russian authorities accused them of using their status as defenders of the dissident to pass emails between Navalny’s organization, declared extremist by the Kremlin, and the politician, who was then serving his sentence under strict isolation.

Two other Navalny lawyers, Olga Mijaílova and Alexánder Fedúlov, are on the police’s wanted list. They escaped from the country and are subject to a preventive detention order in absentia issued by the Russian justice system.

Dubkov accompanied Navalny’s mother in the Yamalo-Nenets region, almost 2,000 kilometers northeast of Moscow, after learning of the activist’s sudden death in the IK-3 prison in Jarp on the 16th. Arriving a day later, both They found the doors of the prison and the morgue in the neighboring city of Salekhard closed.

Navalni’s mother and her lawyer faced a tough negotiation with the Russian authorities that was not resolved until Saturday the 24th, a week after their arrival. During that time, the Kremlin threatened Navalnaya with burying her son in the remote Arctic Circle prison if she did not agree to a secret burial.

The problems surrounding Navalni have not ended with the recovery of the activist’s body. His entourage announced that he would hold a farewell funeral open to the public this week, but the venues intended for this refuse to host what could become the largest demonstration against Russian President Vladimir Putin in 24 years in power.

“In one place they say that the place is occupied. In another they refuse as soon as we mention Navalni’s last name. In another place they told us directly that funeral companies are prohibited from working with us,” denounced the former spokesperson for the Russian dissident, Kira Yarmish.

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