Russia sentenced outspoken critic Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison. A Moscow court found him guilty of treason as well as insulting the military. It is the heaviest sentence since Russia passed a law criminalizing criticism of the military, shortly after invading Ukraine in 2022. He was arrested shortly after an interview with CNN in April 2022.
Who is Vladimir Kara-Murza?
Vladimir Kara-Murza is an opposition politician with Russian and British passports. For years, he has voiced his opinion against President Vladimir Putin and even successfully lobbied the West to impose sanctions on Russia. He has been convicted of spreading false information about the Russian army and of links to an undesirable organization. He gave some comments (deemed as false information by the authorities) during an address to the lower house of the Arizona Legislature in March of 2022.
Kara-Murza suffers from Poly Neuropathy (a nerve condition), which his lawyers said was due to poisoning attempts in 2015 and then in 2017. He has blamed the Kremlin for the poisonings. His lawyers say the 25 years in prison is basically the death penalty. Russian opposition leader and infamous Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny have also slammed the verdict adding that Kara-Murza is being persecuted for political reasons and termed the jail sentence as “illegal, shameless and fascist”.
Vladimir Kara-Murza joins the list of Russians who have been sentenced to long prison terms after speaking out against President Vladimir Putin or the invasion of Ukraine. Another infamous opposition figure, Ilya Yashin, was also sentenced to 8 and a half years in prison in late 2022 on charges of discrediting the military.
The backlash from the West
British Ambassador Deborah Bronnert told reporters outside a Moscow court that Kara-Murza was being punished for bravely opposing Russia’s war in Ukraine and called for his release. US Ambassador Lynne Tracy said that the sentencing was an attempt to silence dissent. She said criminalizing the government’s criticisms is a sign of weakness, not strength.
Russia’s ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, was called in by the Foreign Office to condemn Russia’s human rights obligations, which also include the right to a fair trial. EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell said of the jailing of Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza that the whole ordeal was “outrageous”.
Murza’s conviction was also criticized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk. He said the UN was against anyone being deprived of their freedom for exercising their human rights. He urged the Russian authorities to release Kara-Murza as soon as possible.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu also commented on the verdict. He emphasized the need to support people like Vladimir Kara-Murza, who have been risking their lives and liberties for democracy and human rights in Russia. For this, the whole international community needs to stand together.
