Russian authorities ‘refuse to open criminal investigation into Navalny’s death’

Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia (Pavel Golovkin/AP)

Russian authorities have refused to open a criminal investigation into the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny – who died in an Arctic penal colony, his widow has said.

Mr Navalny, the fiercest political foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died in February in the remote northern prison colony while serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that he had condemned as politically motivated.