Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, said on August 15 that a three-page document provided by Russian authorities offered no convincing explanation for his death in prison six months ago.
Navalnaya said in a video posted on YouTube that she had received "the first and only" official document on the cause and circumstances of Navalny's death: a three-page document stating it had not been the result of a crime and there were consequently no grounds for a criminal investigation.
Navalnaya, who lives in exile, said everyone wants to know what really happened: how Navalny died, who was with him at the time, what medical aid was provided, and other questions such as whether there were attempts to save him and why it took so long to release his body.
“There are still a thousand questions hanging in the air,” she said.
Navalny died on February 16 in an Arctic prison where he was serving a lengthy sentence on what he and his supporters said were politically motivated charges.
Navalnaya said lawyers for Navalny have been seeking autopsy results, medical documents, and video footage from his cell and the courtyard and medical office of the prison "and after six months, this is all we've been given -- a half-page of explanation."
SEE ALSO: Navalny's Widow Says He Should Have Been Released In Recent Prisoner SwapThe document attributes his death to a "combined illness," including a gall-bladder infection, a slipped disc, and staphylococcus infection, with cardiac arrhythmia ultimately causing death.
"When I first saw these pathetic three pages, I couldn't believe my eyes," Navalnaya said. "It's another pathetic attempt to cover up what really happened: a murder."
Navalnaya noted that every third Russian had illnesses of the kind described in the document but did not die from them. In addition, Navalny underwent a comprehensive medical examination when he entered the prison that had turned up no evidence of such ailments.
She also recalled how the day before his death he was seen in a video attending a court hearing and "feeling fine, smiling, even joking with the judge," she said.
The document, which has been posted in full on Navalny's website, was signed by investigative official Aleksandr Varapayev. Varapayev was the official in the Russian Investigative Committee who refused to hand over Navalny's body to his mother unless she agreed to hold his funeral in private. According to Russian media reports, Varapayev was promoted after the events.
Leonid Volkov, an opposition activist who was close to Navalny, also criticized the official document. The investigators took six months to formulate their version of events, and it revealed nothing, he wrote on Telegram.
Navalnaya remains under an arrest warrant in Russia that was upheld on August 7 by a Moscow City Court. She is charged with taking part in an extremist group's activities and was added to Russia's wanted list in July.
The arrest warrant was issued less than two weeks after Navalnaya was elected to head the Human Rights Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights around the world.