"The Colorado Muslim Society strongly condemns all acts of violence and grieves with all of America after the attacks in Boston. The conduct of Tamerlan Tsarnaev is abhorrent and contrary to every principle and belief that underlies the purpose of the Colorado Muslim Society."
How exactly does one go about sending a body back to Russia for burial?
In Boston, there's at least one company, Casper Funeral Services, that advertises such services.
It doesn't sound complicated (just expensive) on this end. But what happens when the plane with the casket lands in Russia? Will Russia agree to turn the body over to the family and allow burial?
Here is the company's FAQ on international shipping of bodies and/or cremated remains. It seems like the consulate of the receiving country (Russia) must approve. The Russian Counselate office in the U.S. that is responsible for Mass. is the New York office.
Casper's says:
Everything revolves around the Office of the Consulate General. Each and every country has a specific set of rules and regulations that must be complied with in order for the deceased shipping service to take place. No funeral shipping takes place without Consulate approval. From the time of death, with all requirements having been completed it usually takes five business days.
Here is Casper's International Funeral Shipping Agreement. It provides this caveat:
The REPRESENTATIVE understands and acknowledges that there are risks involved in shipping human remains internationally, including, but not limited to, delay in shipment or loss of the remains caused by war,
terrorist activities, civil unrest, embassy, import and security requirements, strikes, labor disturbances, and other criminal activities, natural disasters, and other risks, any of which could result in damage to the remains and the
container in which it is shipped, inability to track the shipment, and loss of the remains. The
REPRESENTATIVE understands and acknowledges that Casper Funeral Services has no ability to control
these conditions once it delivers the remains to a carrier for international transportation.
The FBI says its up to the family to make arrangements for the burial. Funeral Director Stefan says:
Stefan has repeatedly said he wouldn’t release Tsarnaev’s body for shipment to Russia unless he is assured that a burial site there is approved and ready to receive Tsarnaev’s remains, where it will be buried with respect and not be subjected to mutilation or paraded as a makeshift shrine by supporters.
As I mentioned the another day, another solution might be a full body burial at sea. Here's a company in Mass. that does them.
Some of those protesting the burial in Boston seem seriously deranged. This particular woman, Nelly Savage, is a disgrace to the community and humanity:
“The devil is waiting for him!” chanted Nelly Sanchez, 45, of Worcester, who was among a group of protesters gathered outside the funeral home this morning. “He needs to be fed to the sharks. I don’t think the sharks would want him, either.”
Tamerlan Tsarnev has already paid the ultimate price for his alleged crime -- his life. That people want to fight over where his bones end up is just sick.
I hope some private citizen who owns a burial plot in the Boston area secretly donates it so this charade can end. If the cemetery is kept secret, then all the Nelly Sanchezs in Boston who thinks their dearly departed loved ones will not have eternal peace if Tamerlan is buried in the same graveyard, can never be certain he's not among them.
The tawdry reaction of those protesting Tamerlan's burial hardly evokes a sense of "Boston Strong." It's more like "Boston Shame."
Also, the louder these protests become, the more likely it is that Mass. will never get to bring Dzhokhar Tsarnev to justice. A change of venue to a district outside of Mass. will be inevitable.
