Britain Summoned Russian Ambassador over Detention of Anti-war Politician

The conviction and sentencing of Vladimir Kara-Murza, Jr., a top Kremlin foe, has sparked international outrage, with the British Government calling it “politically motivated” and summoning the Russian ambassador in response. Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports, was convicted of treason and denigrating Putin’s military and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Kara-Murza had been behind bars since his arrest a year ago, and in his final speech to the court last week, he compared his own trial, which was held behind closed doors, to Josef Stalin’s show trials in the 1930s. He alleged that Russia was being run by a “regime of murderers” just hours before his detainment, as well as accusing Moscow of deliberately bombing civilians in Ukraine. He declined to ask the court to acquit him, saying he stood by and was proud of everything he had said.

The British Government’s condemnation of the conviction and sentencing was swift and unequivocal, with foreign secretary James Cleverly branding the Russian disinterest in protecting “fundamental human rights” as “alarming.” It is part of a widespread Kremlin crackdown on what it terms the spreading of “false information” about its military.

Kara-Murza has spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations. He was originally arrested last year for a speech in which he denounced Russia’s military action in Ukraine, and investigators subsequently added treason charges while he was in custody, increasing his sentence terms.

The judge presiding over the trial had already been sanctioned by the UK for previous involvement in human rights violations, and the government said it would consider further measures to hold to account those involved in Kara-Murza’s “detention and mistreatment.”

The case of Vladimir Kara-Murza, Jr. is a stark reminder of the human cost of political repression and the importance of protecting fundamental human rights. It is imperative that the international community continues to shine a spotlight on Russia’s record of human rights abuses and holds those responsible to account. As the British Government has made clear, adherence to international obligations, including freedom of expression and entitlement to proper healthcare, must be non-negotiable.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian opposition politician and activist, has been a vocal critic of the Putin government for years. However, his opposition to Russia’s actions in Ukraine during the 2022 invasion has put him in a particularly dangerous position. On April 11, 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kara-Murza was arrested on charges of disobeying police orders, facing up to 15 days in jail or a small fine. It was not immediately clear if his arrest was linked to his opposition to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The arrest came hours after he referred to the Putin government as “a regime of murderers”.

Just over a week later, on April 22, 2022, Kara-Murza was charged by a Russian court for spreading “false” information about the Russian military. The reason for the criminal case against him was his March 15 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives, in which he denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kara-Murza faced up to six years in prison for cooperating with an “undesirable” foreign NGO, and in October, he was also charged with treason, which could see him face up to 20 years in prison.

Despite facing these charges, Kara-Murza continued to speak out against the Putin government and advocate for human rights and democracy in Russia. His tireless work earned him recognition from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which awarded him the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize in October 2022.

However, his activism and commitment to democratic values also came with great personal risk. In April 2023, one of Kara-Murza’s lawyers said the prosecution had asked for a 25-year prison sentence, the maximum possible. Additionally, the prosecution also asked for the sentence to be served in a “strict regime” prison colony where conditions are harsh, and where prisoners are held in locked cells rather than barracks.

On April 17, 2023, Kara-Murza was convicted on charges of treason and “spreading disinformation” about the Russian military, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. The British government called the conviction and sentencing “politically motivated”, while Foreign Secretary James Cleverly branded the Russian disinterest in protecting “fundamental human rights” as “alarming”. Kara-Murza’s case is just one example of the ongoing crackdown on opposition voices in Russia and the urgent need for international support for those fighting for democracy and human rights in the country.