The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was discovered in a hospital morgue in the Arctic, two days after his death in a neighboring jail, The Telegraph reported. When Navalny's body arrived at the Salekhard District Clinical Hospital, a paramedic told Russian opposition media that there were injuries on his head and chest. “Such injuries, described by those that saw them, appear from seizures,” the unnamed paramedic told the exiled Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
He further stated: “The person convulses, they try to restrain him, and bruises appear. They also said that he also had a bruise on his chest. That is, they still tried to resuscitate him, and he died, most likely, from cardiac arrest.”
According to Russian jail officials, Navalny died on Friday after becoming unwell following a brief stroll at IK-3, a notoriously cruel prison in the Russian Arctic.
Navalny's mother was unable to locate his remains at the Salekhard morgue on Saturday, prompting colleagues at the Anti-Corruption Foundation to accuse Russian authorities of a cover-up.
'Mysterious Commotion' At IK-3 Penal Colony Ahead Of Navalny's Death
In order to find more details about Navalny's death, exiled Novaya Gazeta Europe media organisation established a contact with an inmate at IK-3 penal colony in Russian Arctic, where Alexei was held. While speaking with Novaya Gazeta, the inmate recalled the "mysterious commotion" that took place in the penal colony.
Under the veil of inspections, the prison guards rounded up prisoners in their cell and barred any movements between the barracks. Recalling that such prison seraching happens in holidays, the inmate stated: “It all started when they really sped up our evening search. This usually happens on holidays when the guards are in a hurry to go and celebrate, but yesterday wasn’t a holiday," Novaya Gazeta Europe reported.
All of this, as per the inmate, was been done in such a hurry that they were not able to make any sense out of it. Information regarding such inspections, as per the inmate, were told to the prisoners one month in advance.
“Usually both the administration and the inmates find out about such inspections about a month in advance and prepare for them because neither the guards nor the prisoners want the inspectors to find any violations. And so we were expecting an inspection out of the blue! Something must have happened,” the inmate was cited by Novaya Gazeta Europe in its report.
Around 10 am on Friday, the news of Navalny’s death spread among the prisoners.
Highlighting that Navalny may have died before the commotion at prison, the inmate stated: “The punishment cell area that [Navalny] had been placed in is located somewhat to the side of the barracks, but we would have seen an ambulance drive up to it. But there was no ambulance in the colony that morning — it only appeared after the news of Navalny’s death became known. So I think he died a lot earlier than was stated officially — the night before, most likely. Why else would they completely lock us up and search us so thoroughly?”
Navalny Died Sooner Than Reported: Report
According to Novaya Europe's source, Navalny's death caught the administration completely off guard, as both the warden and the prison colony's chief of operations were distressed in the immediate aftermath of the announcement.
The prisoners were told that inspectors from the Federal Penitentiary Service's central office were scheduled to visit IK-3 around the same time they learned of Navalny's death. According to a source at Novaya Europe, this provides more proof that Navalny died considerably sooner than previously reported.
Nonetheless, the convicts are unanimous in their belief that neither warden Vadim Kalinin nor his deputies were involved in Navalny's death, but they do not rule out the possibility that they were told to do something they did not want to undertake.
'Since Family Doubts Cause Of Death They Will Insist On Independent Autopsy'
Speaking with Novaya Europe, pathologist Irina Sitnova stated: “The first postmortem will determine the exact time of death based on body temperature, rigor mortis, and the contents of the internal organs."
“Since the family doubts the cause of death given by the authorities, they will insist on an independent autopsy. If Navalny did die of a thromboembolism, as the authorities claim, the autopsy will show this clearly, and a second post-mortem will confirm it. But a follow-up autopsy will be unlikely to determine the exact time of death,” Sitnova added.
According to forensic expert Igor, knowing the precise moment of death is critical not only for determining the cause of death but also for reconstructing the chain of events that led up to it.
In the event of a probable thromboembolism, the blood clot might have broken loose on its own, but it could also have been caused by physical force, such as being hit on the site where the blood clot formed.
This is exactly the type of information that a first autopsy would typically reveal.
“After a first postmortem, the state of his internal organs won’t be particularly informative,” Igor S. was quoted by Novaya Europe in its report. “Unless his relatives manage to get independent experts to participate in the first autopsy, it will be difficult to challenge the official time of death and recreate the sequence of events that preceded Navalny’s demise.”