 "Do not recognise these elections (Russia's presidential polls in March. A president who assassinated his main political opponent cannot be legitimate by definition, says Yulia Navalnaya, Wife of Aleksei Navalny")
Yulia Navalnaya, wife of late Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, on Wednesday urged European politicians and officials to investigate financial flows in the West linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies.
Navalnaya was speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, 12 days after her husband died suddenly in a Russian penal colony at the age of 47.
"Putin is the leader of an organised criminal gang. This includes poisoners and assassins but they're just puppets. The most important thing is the people close to Putin - his friends, associates and keepers of mafia money," she said.
"You and all of us must fight the criminal gang. And the political innovation here is to apply the methods of fighting organised crime, not political competition. Not statements of concern but the search for mafia associates in your countries, for discreet lawyers and financiers who are helping Putin and his friends to hide money."
Navalnaya has accused President Vladimir Putin of having her husband killed, an allegation the Kremlin has angrily rejected. She has promised to continue his work, urging Russians to share her rage against Putin, and has met Western politicians, including U.S. President Joe Biden last week.
Wearing a black dress with white collar and trim, she was greeted with a standing ovation in the European Parliament.
Navalny's funeral service and burial will take place in Moscow on Friday, his spokesperson said, but his allies accused the Kremlin of thwarting their attempts to organise a bigger event a day earlier.
Navalnaya said she was not sure whether the funeral service would be peaceful or whether the police would make arrests.
