On Monday, a Moscow court sentenced Kremlin opponent Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison for treason and other offences. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, this is the harshest penalty of its kind. Kara-Murza, a 41-year-old father of three, holds dual citizenship in the UK and Russia. He has openly criticised President Vladimir Putin during his time as an opposition lawmaker for several years. Additionally, he has effectively influenced Western governments to impose sanctions against Russia and some Russian citizens for alleged human rights violations. Charges against Vladimir Kara-MurzaKara-Murza alleges that his trial was politically motivated. He was accused of treason, among other charges, by state prosecutors. Additionally, they charged him for tarnishing the Russian militarys “special military operation” in Ukraine by disseminating inaccurate content. The prosecutors asked for a 25-year term, the harshest punishment ever for a Kremlin opponent since Putin took power in 1999. Vladimir Kara-Murzas response to his sentenceKara-Murza, who lives in Washington but travelled to Moscow to protest the war, asserted that Russia was governed by a “regime of murderers” in an interview with CNN broadcast just before he was arrested. Along with his political engagement, he also spoke at conferences in the US and Europe, where he accused Russia of killing people in Ukraine, a charge Moscow refuted. After being given a 25-year sentence, Kara-Murza, who had quietly watched the proceedings from a cage with a glass wall in the courtroom, declared that “Russia will be free,” frequently used by the opposition. One of his attorneys, Maria Eismont, claims that he also smiled and said that the severe sentence rewarded his efforts. When he learned he would serve 25 years, he reportedly replied, “My self-esteem has gone up I recognise that I did everything right. Its the best award I could have received for what I did and stood for as a citizen and a patriot. Evgenia Kara-Murza, Kara-Murzas wife, expressed this view on Twitter and compared his lengthy sentence to an “A+” for bravery, consistency, and honesty. “I am really proud of you, my love, and Ill be by your side always,” she wrote. Kara-Murzas wife said in a separate statement at a Washington Post event that the heavy punishment showed how scared the Russian authorities were of her husband. Kara-Murza compared his trial to the show trials during Josef Stalins rule in the 1930s. He claimed he was proud of what he had done and said, but he did not ask the court to free him. Eismont, Kara-Murzas attorney, disclosed that her client had been denied the chance to call his children for nearly a year. She said that the verdict, which she claimed was clouded by legal irregularities, would be appealed by his legal team.Western response to Vladimir Kara-Murzas sentenceSpeaking to reporters outside the court, Deborah Bronnert, the British ambassador to Moscow, asserted that Kara-Murza had been imprisoned for speaking out fearlessly against Russias conflict in Ukraine and called for his release. Lynne Tracy, the American ambassador in Moscow, argued that Kara-Murzas conviction was an effort to muzzle dissent and that criticising government action as a crime was a display of weakness rather than strength. Responding to these comments, Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, criticised the Western diplomats involvement and said they might be brought in to be reminded of what diplomats should and shouldnt do. As per the reports, Kara-Murza became ill twice, in 2015 and 2017, due to what he believes were poisonings by Russian secret agencies, and he developed polyneuropathy, a debilitating nerve illness. His attorneys are concerned about his health after a hospital examination in March revealed that his condition was deteriorating.
