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A top Kremlin foe was convicted on Monday of treason and insulting the Russian military and sentenced to 25 years in prison after a trial that marked the latest move to crack down on the opposition amid fighting in Ukraine.
Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., a prominent opposition activist who twice survived a poisoning blamed on the Kremlin, has been in custody since his arrest a year ago. He has dismissed the charges against him as political and compared the judicial process against him to a show trial during the reign of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
In a statement late last week, Kara-Murza said he remained proud of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “dictatorship” and his decision to send troops to Ukraine.
“I know that the day will come when the darkness covering our country will disappear,” Kara-Murza said in comments last week posted on social networks and Russian opposition media. “And our society will be wide-eyed and horrified when they realize what crimes are being committed in their name.”
The charges against Kara-Murza stem from a March 2022 speech in the Arizona House of Representatives where he condemned Russia’s military actions in Ukraine. Investigators added treason charges when he was taken into custody.
Kara-Murza, a journalist, was a colleague of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was killed near the Kremlin in 2015.
Sweeping ‘false information’ laws
Kara-Murza survived poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that were blamed on the Kremlin. Russian officials have denied responsibility.
Russian authorities have denied involvement in the incident. Kara-Murza’s lawyers say she suffers from a serious nerve disorder called polyneuropathy.
WATCH / Kara-Murza, to CBC News, condemns the Kremlin on the eve of the invasion of Ukraine:
Prominent Russian activist Vladimir Kara-Murza said many Russians opposed military action against Ukraine but did not agree to being crushed by the state.
Canada and other Western governments condemned Monday’s sentence.
“Thirty years ago, a free and democratic Russia struggled to come to exist. Oday’s verdict is a sad proof of the darkness of this struggle has come,” said Alison LeClaire, Canada’s ambassador to Russia. “Regardless of this verdict, the people who have freedom in this country and around the world recognize Vladimir Kara-Murza as a man of respect and conscience, a defender of civil and political rights, and an ally of the people in their struggle. Russia is free and democratic.”
The British government summoned the Russian ambassador over the sentencing of Kara-Murza, who also holds a British passport.
“Russia’s lack of commitment to protecting human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement. “We continue to demand that Russia fulfill its international obligations including Vladimir Kara-Murza’s right to proper health care.”
Russia passed a law banning the spread of “false information” about military days after sending troops to Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Authorities are using the law to stifle criticism of what the Kremlin calls “special military operations.”
Another prominent opposition figure, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to 8½ years in prison late last year on charges of subverting the military.
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