Alexei Navalny was 'cold tortured' in Polar Wolf penal colony before being 'murdered', humanitarian group claims as it requests independent examination of Putin critic's body

Alexei Navalny was allegedly cold tortured in the Polar Wolf penal colony before his death, a humanitarian group has claimed as it requests an independent examination of the Putin critic's body.

Russian organisation gulagu.net - which highlights prison abuses - is pleading with Navalny's family to ensure samples from Navalny's body are independently examined abroad.

It is far from clear that the Russian authorities will permit any independent probe after claiming Navalny, who was serving a 19-year prison sentence at the arctic colony, died from 'sudden death syndrome'.

Navalny's wife Yulia, 47, has claimed that her husband was murdered on Vladimir Putin's orders, and previously accused the dictator of Satanism in failing to pass the body to his family - which only happened a week after his death.

But yesterday, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's GUR military intelligence service, suggested his death could be down to natural causes as he claimed Navalny died from 'a blood clot'.

Alexei Navalny was serving a 19-year prison sentence in the Polar Wolf penal colony (pictured above: last video appearance in court)

It is far from clear that the Russian authorities led by president Putin (pictured) will permit any independent probe after claiming Navalny, who was serving a 19-year prison sentence at the arctic colony, died from 'sudden death syndrome'

Navalny's wife Yulia (right), 47, has claimed that her husband was murdered on Vladimir Putin 's orders, and previously accused the dictator of Satanism in failing to pass the body to his family - which only happened a week after his death 

Lyudmila Navalnaya, the mother of Alexei Navalny, and lawyer Vasily Dubkov arrive at the town of Salekhard on February 17 before being told they could not see the body

Gulagu.net said: 'Today his body is the main proof of Putin's crime against Alexei himself and against democracy in Russia.

'Navalny's body is the main evidence of his murder and subsequent manipulations with him in order to conceal this terrible crime committed to please the dictator Putin….

'If he were alive, we are sure that in a similar case he himself would say that the most important thing today is examination, research by the best experts in the world and the presentation of comprehensive evidence, and only after that - the funeral.

'We appeal to the family of Alexei Navalny taking into account our twelve-and-a-half years of experience in independent investigations of torture and murder in the Gulag of the 21st century.

'We ask you to postpone the funeral and do everything possible to conduct a comprehensive examination outside the Russian Federation and are ready to provide assistance and assistance in this… Please make the right choice.' 

Ukraine's top spy chief Kyrylo Budanov has claimed that Navalny may have 'died from a blood clot'

Navalny, right, embraces his wife Yulia, as he was released by a court in Kirov, Russia, July 19, 2013, after he was released from custody after being convicted of embezzlement

Alexei Navalny posted a picture with his wife Yulia in September 2020 as he was recovering in Berlin's Charite hospital where he was treated for suspected poisoning 

During the weekend, the Russian authorities U-turned to pass the body to Navalny's mother Lyudmila, 69.

She is now responsible for bringing the body to Moscow.

The group appealed to the US and EU to support the family in 'exposing this political murder' and to 'organise the evacuation of the body for a full comprehensive post-mortem examination'.

It promised by Monday to publish 'a complete list' of Russian jail officials who 'are involved in the murder of Alexei Navalny and the functioning of the system of torture and humiliation in Russia.'

gulagu.net - which boasts inside knowledge inside Putin's penal system - said it had already provided details to Navalny's family of the 'tying, immobilisation, blocking of arms and legs and cold torture' to which Navalny was subjected.

Russian media outlets today suggested that a funeral for Navalny could be held in Moscow on 29 February - as Putin makes his biggest speech of the year.

Exiled journalist Bozhena Rynska said: 'The authorities will prevent a people's funeral'.

This refers to an equivalent of the funeral of nuclear physicist and human rights campaigner Andrei Sakharov in 1989 when mourners flocked to bid him farewell and honour his opposition to Soviet totalitarianism.

They would 'block off the area of any cemetery where a funeral is planned and, under various pretexts, prevent the crowd from entering, so as not to create the image of a people's funeral'.

She said: 'Now the presidential administration is discussing how to prevent a mass procession at the funeral of Alexei Navalny.'