Alexei Navalny’s body found with ‘bruises’ as West holds Putin responsible

Alexei Navalny’s body has been found, which shows signs of bruises and use of force, reported several media outlets citing paramedics. On Friday (Feb 16), Russia’s prison service said the 47-year-old Putin critic died after a walk at the ‘Polar Wolf’ penal colony in Kharp – about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.

Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have held Russia’s Vladimir Putin responsible for Navalny’s death.

"What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin's brutality no one should be fooled not in Russia not at home not anywhere in the world," said Biden.

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Moscow has responded to these allegations by calling them “unacceptable and absolutely rabid.”

‘Cameras in the prison were not operating’

Meanwhile, Gulagu.net, a human rights group that focuses on the rights of prisoners in Russia, has claimed that cameras in the prison where Navalny was being held were not operating on the day of his death.

The rights group claims that the officials of the Federal Security Service (FSB) visited the prison two days before and dismantled listening devices and hidden cameras “that could have recorded what happened to Alexey Navalny on February 15-16.”

Watch:Alexei Navalny death: Navalny's team confirms death, family demands body 'immediately'

The group further claimed that on the evening of February 16, the officials conducting the autopsy were directed to declare that bruises occurred only after Navalny’s death.

WION was not able to verify these claims independently.

The official version

Alexei Navalny’s mother was reportedly told by Russian authorities that her son died of ‘sudden death syndrome.’

"When Alexei's lawyer and mother arrived at the colony this morning, they were told that the cause of Navalny's death was sudden death syndrome," Ivan Zhdanov, who directs Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said on social media platform X.

According to details, 'sudden death syndrome" is a vague term for different cardiac syndromes that cause sudden cardiac arrest and death.

Brazil's Lula says should avoid accusations

Meanwhile,BrazilianPresident Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday (Feb 18) saida thorough investigation should be conductedinto the death ofNavalny before making any accusations.

Speaking at a press conference after attending an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Lula said refraining from taking a stance on the death at this moment was a matter of "common sense."

"A citizen died in prison, I don't know if he was ill or had any issues," Lula said. "To make an accusation is to trivialize. I hope that a coroner will provide an explanation for why the individual died, that's all," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)