Alexei Navalny's mother said she had been shown the body, but added that Russian authorities were under pressure to allow a “secret” burial.
Lyudmila Navalnaya said in a video address that her body was taken to the morgue on Wednesday night.
She said she signed the death certificate. Supporters of the former opposition leader said they maintain he died of natural causes.
Navalny's widow said he was killed by Russian authorities.
Lyudmila Navalnaya said she was “intimidated” because authorities had refused to hand over her son's body, which she was required by law to do. She claimed that authorities were setting conditions such as the place, time and manner of her son's burial.
“They want to take me to a new grave on the outskirts of the cemetery and say, 'Here lies your son,'” she said.
Navalnaya, who visited the town of Salekhard after receiving news that her son had died in a nearby penal colony, said she had also received threats from authorities.
“They looked me in the eye and said if I didn't agree to a secret funeral, they would do something to my son's body.
“Agent Volopaev openly told me: “Time is not on our side, the corpse is decomposing.''
She spoke in a video posted on her late son's YouTube channel, and at the end of her speech she demanded the return of the body.
Navalny died in prison on February 16.
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