Sudden death syndrome in humans is broadly when a person unexpectedly dies without any apparent cause or warning signs.
Navalny, a nemesis of Russian President Vladimir Putin and fierce Kremlin critic, fell unconscious and died on Friday after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” penal colony in Kharp, about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, where he was serving a three-decade sentence, the prison service said.
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Navalny’s 69-year-old mother, Lyudmila, braved Arctic temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday to visit the penal colony where her son perished.
She was given an official death notice stating the time of death as 2:17 p.m. local time (0917 GMT) on Feb. 16, Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, told Reuters.
“When Alexei’s lawyer and mother arrived at the colony this morning, they were told that the cause of Navalny’s death was sudden death syndrome,” Ivan Zhdanov, who directs Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, said on social media platform X.
“Sudden death syndrome” is a vague term for different cardiac syndromes that cause sudden cardiac arrest and death.
Navalny’s team also said that the authorities have refused to hand over the body until the end of the investigation.
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It was also unclear where Navalny’s body was, his team said. His mother had been told that the body had been taken to Salekhard, the town near the prison complex but when she arrived at the morgue it was closed.
The prison service of the Yamalo-Nenets region where he had been serving his sentence on Friday informed about Navalny’s death.
No sooner did the information about Navalny’s death come to the fore, when reactions from world leaders began pouring in wherein they condemned the death and held Russian President Putin responsible for the death.
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Western leaders issued a statement on Navalny’s death, including US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Nato chief, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Biden paid tribute to Navalny’s courage and, without citing evidence, accused President Vladimir Putin of being responsible for the death. Britain said there would be consequences for Russia.
The Kremlin said the West’s reaction was unacceptable and “absolutely rabid”. Putin has yet to comment on Navalny’s death.
(With Reuters input)