Russia: Alexei Navalny to be buried amid high security

Alexei Navalny will be buried in Moscow on Friday amid beefed up security as his supporters fear a police crackdown during his funeral procession.

Navalny, a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died at the age of 47 under mysterious circumstances during his imprisonment at a prison camp on February 16.

His supporters have decided to livestream the his funeral online. They have also urged people to attend his funeral service and burial in Moscow.

The church service is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. local time (1100 GMT) and will be followed by a burial at Borisov cemetery, Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said.

Calling on people to attend, she said that everyone to whom Navalny's political work meant something, should come to the funeral. The walk from the church to the cemetery will take 28 minutes, Yarmysh said.

Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, has also urged people to come and attend the funeral.

Navalny's family struggled for his burial

Russian authorities handed over Navalny's body to his mother days after his death following repeated demands. His mother refused to hold a burial in secret.

Navalny's team has alleged that they had been looking for a place to bury his body but Russian authorities created hurdles in the process.

Public mourning of Navalny's death runs the risk of detention. Scores of people have recently been detained for laying flowers for Navalny.

Navalny's team has alleged that he was murdered at the behest of Putin as the critic was likely to be freed in a potential prisoner swap.

While Navalny's allies have not provided any evidence to support their allegations, they have vowed to seek clarity about his death.

Meanwhile, the accusations have been dismissed by Russia and his death certificate states that Navalny died of natural causes.