Russian opponent Vladimir Kara-Murza sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason. London, Berlin and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights are calling for his immediate release
Russian opponent Vladimir Kara-Murza has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason in a harsh prison colony after accusing Vladimir Putin and criticising Russia's invasion of Ukraine, reports the BBC, according to Digi24. He is also accused of spreading "false information" about the Russian military and illegal activity for an organisation deemed "undesirable". He has denied the charges and publicly criticised the lawsuit against him.
Last spring, Vladimir Kara-Murza was indicted for disseminating "false information" about the military after his March 2022 appearance before US lawmakers in Arizona, during which he criticised the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
Then, in August 2022, he was charged with working with an "undesirable organisation", also a jailable offence, for organising a conference in support of political prisoners in Russia.
Finally, in October, the authorities opened a third case against him for "high treason", the most serious of the charges, for criticising the authorities in public speeches abroad. Vladimir Kara-Murza is also labelled a "foreign agent".
The British government has denounced the conviction of Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is also a British citizen, and is demanding his "immediate release", announcing the summoning of the Russian ambassador.
The German government has also denounced "in the strongest possible terms" the sentence against Vladimir Kara-Murza.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, reacted by calling for his release "without delay".
Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has been in pre-trial detention since April 2022, is a long-time opponent of Vladimir Putin. He was on the verge of death after allegedly being poisoned twice, in 2015 and 2017, assassination attempts he blames on the Russian regime.
