2023-04-17 18:39:28
- Steve Rosenberg y Kathryn Armstrong
- BBC News, Moscow and London
image source, AFP
Vladimir Kara-Murza received charges from the Russian judiciary last year.
Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison on charges related to his criticism of the war in Ukraine.
The court found him guilty of the treason charges, spreading “false” information about the Russian army and for its affiliation with an “undesirable organization”.
The journalist and politician, who also has British nationality, is the latest of several opponents of the president Vladimir Putin who have been arrested or forced to flee Russia.
Kara-Murza, 41, he had denied all charges.
For years he had criticized Putin and, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, he opposed the government’s crackdown on dissent.
“I endorse every word I’ve said… Not only do I regret nothing, I’m proud of it”he said in a statement last week.
“I know that the day will come when the darkness that surrounds our country will dissipate,” he added in statements posted online. “Our society will open its eyes and shudder when it realizes the crimes that have been committed in its name.”
To a “correctional colony”
The 25-year sentence against Kara-Murza, which has been widely criticized, was the maximum sentence requested by prosecutors and it is the longest an opposition figure has received since Putin launched the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The judge issued his decision in a matter of minutes, when often the delivery of verdicts and the announcement of the sentence can take a long time in Russian courts.
He announced that the activist he would serve his sentence in a “strict regime correctional colony” and that he would be fined 400,000 rubles (US$4,900).
image source, NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA
Vladimir Kara-Murza says he endorses everything he has said about the Russian government.
The harsh sentence is a sign that in today’s Russia the authorities are determined not only to silence critics, but also to neutralize any act or person they deem to pose a threat to the political system.
The BBC was not allowed access to the courtroom and only a handful of Russian state media journalists were allowed access, as well as the defendant’s mother and lawyer.
Foreign reporters and diplomats had to go to a separate room to watch the proceedings on two television screens.
Speaking outside court after the sentencing, Kara-Murza’s lawyer, Maria Eismon, said the sentence was “terrifying” but also a “high recognition” to the work of his defended.
“When [Kara-Murza] He heard that it was 25 years, he said: my self-esteem even increased, I realized that I had been doing everything right!”, said the lawyer.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny also spoke out against Kara-Murza’s sentence, calling it “revenge” on the Kremlin “for not dying in an instant”, referring to the fact that the convicted person survived two poisonings, allegedly perpetrated by Russian authorities.
Kara-Murza comes from a well-known Soviet dissident family. Her father, Vladimir Kara-Murza, was also a critic of the Kremlin.
He began his career in journalism before becoming an adviser to Boris Nemtsov, another prominent Russian opposition leader and politician who was shot dead in Moscow in 2015.
He played a key role in persuading Western governments to sanction Russian officials for human rights abuses and corruption.
image source, Reuters
He was arrested a year ago in Moscow, initially for disobeying a police officer. More serious charges were brought against him once he was in custody.
Kara-Murza’s case was based in part on a speech he gave to politicians in the US last year, in which he said that Russia was committing war crimes in Ukraine with cluster bombs in residential areas, as well as “bombing of schools and maternity hospitals.”
Those claims have been independently backed, but Russian investigators deemed them false, saying the Defense Ministry “has not allowed the use of prohibited means… to wage war.”
They insisted that Ukraine’s civilian population was not a target.
Another of the charges against the activist stemmed from his participation in an event for political prisoners in which Kara-Murza referred to Russia’s “alleged repressive policies.”
Last week, a copy of a speech he gave behind closed doors in court was released, in which he said his trial reminded him of Stalin-era public prosecution cases in the 1930s.
“I only blame myself for one thing,” he said. “I failed to convince enough compatriots and politicians in democratic countries of the danger that the current Kremlin regime poses to Russia and the world.”
image source, Reuters
Kara-Murza has been critical of Putin’s government for several years.
His sentence has been widely condemned. The British government has summoned its Russian ambassador and said it would seek measures to hold those involved in the detention and “mistreatment” of Kara-Murza to account.
The UK had already issued sanctions against the judge presiding over the case for his previous involvement in cases of human rights violations.
“Russia’s lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming,” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.
the activist received British citizenship when she moved to the UK in her teens, with her mother, and attended Cambridge University.
He nearly died twice after being poisoned and moved to the US with his family to recuperate. He later returned to Russia but refused to leave after the invasion of Ukraine, despite the increasing risk to those who opposed the government.
He was involved in passing the Magnitsky Act in the US, a key piece of legislation that helped ensure sanctions against human rights violators in Russia.
The United Nations and the US State Department also condemned the verdict. The latter described Kara-Murza as “yet another target of the Russian government’s escalating campaign of repression.”
Remember that you can receive notifications from BBC Mundo. Download the new version of our app and activate them so you don’t miss out on our best content.
#Russian #opponent #Vladimir #KaraMurza #sentenced #years #prison #treason