The UK government has demanded the release of a British-Russian Kremlin critic after he was jailed for 25 years for high treason by a court in Moscow.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, 41, was arrested in April 2022 just hours after he gave an interview to American television channel CNN, in which he said Russia was run by “a regime of murderers”.
Mr Kara-Murza was later charged with spreading false information about the Russian army in Ukraine. He was also accused of high treason and being affiliated with an “undesirable organisation”.
British foreign secretary James Cleverly paid tribute to Mr Kara-Murza following his prison sentence for “bravely” denouncing Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement, Mr Cleverly said: “Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for what it was – a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter.
“Russia’s lack of commitment to protecting fundamental human rights, including freedom of expression, is alarming.
“We continue to urge Russia to adhere to its international obligations, including Vladimir Kara-Murza’s entitlement to proper healthcare.
“I pay tribute to Mr Kara-Murza and his family, including his wife Evgenia and her unwavering commitment to raising her husband’s cause on the international stage. The UK will continue to support them and to call for Mr Kara-Murza’s immediate release.”
Andrei Kelin, the Russian Ambassador to the UK, has been summoned to the Foreign Office for a dressing down over Russia’s human rights obligations, including the right to a fair trial.
Mr Kara-Murza has rejected the charges against him as political and likened the judicial proceedings to the show trials during the rule of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
The activist told a court in Moscow last week that he remains proud of standing up to Mr Putin’s “dictatorship” and his decision to send troops into Ukraine.
“I know that the day will come when the darkness engulfing our country will clear,” he said in remarks last week that were posted on social networks and Russian opposition media. “And then our society will open its eyes and shudder when it realizes what terrible crimes were committed in its name.”
The charges against Mr Kara-Murza stem from his March 2022 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russia’s military action in Ukraine. Investigators added the treason charges while he was in custody.
Russia adopted a law criminalising spreading “false information” about its military days after it sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Authorities have used the law to stifle criticism of what the Kremlin calls “a special military operation.”
Mr Kara-Murza, a journalist and Cambridge graduate, was an associate of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was killed near the Kremlin in 2015. Mr Kara-Murza survived poisonings in 2015 and 2017 that he blamed on the Kremlin. Russian officials have denied responsibility.
Another prominent opposition figure, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to 8 and a half years in prison late last year on charges of discrediting the military.
