Alexei Navalny: Opposition leader's lawyer briefly held in Moscow - reports

Alexei Navalny's mother Lyudmila and lawyer Vasily Dubkov (right) in a town close to the penal colony where the opposition leader died

A lawyer for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in prison earlier this month, has been briefly detained in Moscow.

Russian media said Vasily Dubkov was held for "violating public order".

Russian officials have not confirmed that he was arrested nor the reason why. But Mr Dubkov told news outlet Verstka he was freed later on Tuesday.

Mr Dubkov accompanied Navalny's mother to the Arctic prison colony where he died on 16 February.

In October 2023, other lawyers for Navalny - Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin, and Aleksei Lipster - were arrested on charges of "extremism".

In January, Olga Mikhailova, another lawyer for the opposition leader, said she had been charged with the same crime and decided to remain in exile.

Russian authorities banned the Anti-Corruption Foundation, the organisation led by Navalny, for "extremism" in 2021.

The opposition leader's body was held by prison authorities for more than a week following his death. His mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, travelled to the remote "Polar Wolf" jail where he died to retrieve his body, accompanied by Mr Dubkov.

The body was handed over to his mother eight days after his death. Mrs Navalnaya said she was threatened by authorities, who wanted her son to be buried in "secret".

Navalny's allies have said they are looking for a place to hold a public memorial for the former opposition leader.

However, Navalny's press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, said on Tuesday that most funeral locations they had contacted had refused to allow a ceremony on their premises.

"Some places say that the premises are occupied, some refuse when the name Navalny is mentioned. In one place we were directly told that funeral agencies were prohibited from working with us," Ms Yarmysh wrote.