\n<\/p>\n
Russian authorities have refused to open a criminal investigation into the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny<\/a> who died in an Arctic penal colony, his widow Yulia<\/a> said Thursday.<\/p>\n Navalny, the fiercest political foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a>, died in February in the remote northern prison colony while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges<\/a> that he had condemned as politically motivated. Authorities said he became ill after a walk but have otherwise given no details on Navalny\u2019s death.<\/p>\n Russian officials only said that Navalny died of natural causes shortly after taking a walk and have vehemently denied involvement both in the poisoning and in his death.<\/p>\n In a video published Thursday on social media, Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow, said she received a letter from Russian investigators detailing the cause of her husband’s death.<\/p>\n In the video, Navalnaya said she was told Navalny died from a combination of \u201ca dozen different diseases.” Investigators told her Navalny finally died from arrhythmia, or an irregular heartbeat.<\/p>\n Navalnaya disputed Russian officials’ version of events and said her husband exhibited no instances of heart disease while alive.<\/p>\n The letter, Navalnaya said, was \u201ca lie.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey are hiding what really happened that day … when Alexei became ill, he was not taken to the medical unit, but back to the punishment cell.\u201d<\/p>\n There, she said, Navalny was \u201cdying alone.”<\/p>\n The document said officials would not open a criminal investigation into the opposition leader’s death because no offense had been committed, Navalnaya said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs long as Putin is in power, there will be no investigation,\u201d Navalnaya said, vowing to continue to probe the circumstances around her husband’s death.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n