Alexei Navalny’s funeral to be held in Moscow on Friday

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Alexei Navalny’s widow voiced fears over disruptions and arrests at her husband’s funeral, which his team confirmed will be held in Moscow on Friday.

“I am not sure yet whether it will be peaceful or whether the police will arrest those who have come to say goodbye to Alexei,” Yulia Navalnaya said in an address to the European Parliament on Wednesday.

Navalny’s team said they had struggled to secure a funeral home to help with arrangements, saying some declined to work with them once they learned who the burial was for, while others were directly prohibited.

A farewell ceremony for Navalny, Russia’s high-profile opposition figure who died suddenly in an Arctic penal colony earlier this month, will take place in Moscow’s Maryino district on Friday morning, followed by a funeral service at Borisovskoye Cemetery and then a burial.

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Supporters of Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most vociferous critic, have alleged that he was killed by the Kremlin. Navalnaya has said that the 47-year-old was starved and tortured for years in his prison cell, adding that Putin “is capable of anything ... you cannot negotiate with him.”

She has pledged to continue her husband’s fight for freedom in Russia. Defeating Putin, she said, will take innovative efforts from the West — starting with not being “boring.”

“You can’t hurt Putin with another resolution or another set of sanctions that is no different from the previous ones. You can’t defeat him by thinking he’s a man of principle who has morals and rules,” she told members of the European Parliament.

Previously, Navalny’s allies have said that they were prevented from planning a funeral, and his mother claimed she was told to agree to holding a secret funeral or risk not receiving his body.