Vasily Dubkov, the lawyer who represented late opposition politician Alexei Navalny and accompanied his mother last week when she asked authorities to return his body, was arrested in Moscow on Tuesday, Russian media reported. The newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europa and the media company SOTA reported on the arrest.
Dubkov was reportedly arrested for “violating public order,” although sources did not provide specifics on the exact reason for his arrest.
SOTA sources indicate that Dubkov was transferred to the Shcherbinka Police Department. However, Alexey Dubkov was later released and shared the information with the press. Although he did not comment on the reasons for his arrest, He emphasized that he viewed the incident as “an obstacle to his legal practice.”
It should be noted that Dubkov accompanied Lyudmila Ivanovna, Navalny’s mother, in an attempt to retrieve her son’s body from the Federal Penitentiary Service, a task he carried out in Salekhard.
On February 24, Navalny’s team announced that the politician’s body was finally returned to his mother. Navalny’s press secretary Kira Yarmysh then reported on the search for a location for Navalny’s funeral, which is planned for the end of the week.
However, on February 27, Yarmysh revealed that funeral homes were banned from organizing Alexei Navalny’s funeral. According to her, several agencies claimed that the rooms were occupied, while others refused to participate in a dialogue after their name was mentioned.
dmr