WARSAW, Feb  23, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Russian authorities are threatening to

bury Alexei Navalny on the grounds of the Arctic prison colony where he died
unless his family agrees to a closed funeral, the opposition leader's team said
Friday.

       The 47-year-old Kremlin critic died last week after spending more than
three years behind bars, prompting outrage and condemnation from Western
leaders and his supporters.

       Several leading Russian cultural figures and activists have called on
authorities to release the body to his mother, who arrived at the prison colony
in northern Siberia last Saturday.

       "An hour ago, an investigator called Alexei's mother and gave her an
ultimatum," Navalny's spokesperson Kira Yarmysh wrote in a post on X, formerly
Twitter.

       "She has three hours to agree to a secret funeral without a public
farewell, or Alexei will be buried in the colony."

       His mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, "refused to negotiate ... because they have
no authority to decide how and where to bury her son", Yarmysh added.

       She has now filed a lawsuit alleging the "desecration" of his body, said
Ivan Zhdanov, an exiled ally of the late leader.

       Navalny's team have said the Kremlin is "scared" of the opposition leader
even after his death.

       They believe the authorities do not want a public funeral as it would
represent a show of support for Navalny's movement against Putin.

       They previously called Putin a "killer" who was trying to cover his tracks
by not allowing independent forensic analysis of Navalny's body.
       
       - 'Putin is scared' -
    
       
       After days of being denied access, Navalny's mother Lyudmila said Thursday
she had finally been allowed to see her dead son's body.

       But she said the authorities were not willing to give her custody and
wanted to bury him secretly.

       More than 25 film makers, artists, Nobel Prize winners and opponents of
President Vladimir Putin have so far called for his body to be released, in
videos published by his team on social media.

       They include Nobel Prize winning editor Dmitry Muratov, protest rock band
Pussy Riot member and activist Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, writer Victor
Shenderovich and movie director Andrey Zvyagintsev.

       "It's awkward to talk about this in a country that considers itself to
still be Christian. Just give Lyudmila Ivanovna her son... without any
conditions," Muratov said.

       The authorities were trying to keep Navalny in solitary confinement even in
death, he added -- just as they had done for long stints of his three years in
prison.

       "Putin was scared of Navalny for many years during his life," writer and
long-time Putin critic Shenderovich said.

       "Putin is scared of Navalny after his death -- after he killed Navalny he's
still scared of him," he added.