Thousands chanted Navalny at his funeral, many chanted Putin is a “murderer”

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose death remains unexplained, is buried in an Orthodox funeral service in Moscow. Despite a heavy police presence, thousands of people have gathered to bid farewell to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at his funeral in Moscow and many chanted “Putin is a murderer” . The European Parliament described Navalny’s death as “murder” on Thursday

Moscow – Thousands of Russians chanted Alexei Navalny’s name and said they would not forgive the authorities for his death as the opposition leader was laid to rest in Moscow on Friday.

At a cemetery not far from where Navalny once lived, his mother Lyudmila and father Anatoly stooped over his open coffin to kiss him for the last time as a small group of musicians played.

Crossing themselves, mourners stepped forward to caress his face before a priest gently placed a white shroud over him and the coffin was closed.

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 U.S.-backed troublemakers out to foment revolution.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had nothing to say to Navalny’s family.

Many thousands of people turned out to pay their respects at the cemetery and outside the Soothe My Sorrows church in southeast Moscow where Orthodox priests held a short funeral service before the body was taken to the cemetery.

Among the large crowd, many people clutched bunches of flowers and some joined in chants – “Russia will be free”, “No to war”, “Russia without Putin”, “We won’t forgive” and “Putin is a murderer”.

Police were present in large numbers.

“I came here to say goodbye to Navalny. What does that mean for me? I don’t even know how to explain it,” a 25-year-old man who gave his name as Kirill said.

“It’s unfortunate for the future of Russia … We won’t give up, we will believe in something better.”

A young woman, Kamila, said: “There are more than 10,000 people here, and no one is afraid … We came here to honor the memory of a man who also wasn’t afraid, who wasn’t afraid of anything.”

State media gave scant coverage of the funeral.

The RIA news agency reported some details on Navalny’s burial, noting the presence of foreign envoys including the US, French, and German ambassadors, and recalled that he had been jailed on a host of charges including fraud, contempt of court, and extremism.

Navalny denied all those charges, saying they had been trumped up by the authorities to silence his criticism of Putin.

More than a quarter of a million people have watched the farewell to Navalny on his YouTube channel, which is blocked inside Russia.

Allies of Navalny outside Russia called on people who want to honor his memory but could not attend his funeral service to instead go to memorials of Soviet-era repression in their towns on Friday at 7 pm.

The Kremlin said any unsanctioned gatherings in support of Navalny would violate the law.

Reuters/ News Agencies