Vladimir Kara-Murza

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Detained: April 11, 2022.

Charges: Public dissemination of deliberately false information about the use of the Russian armed forces in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintain international peace and security, committed for mercenary motives and motivated by political hatred and enmity (paragraph g, d of part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Participation in the activities on the territory of the Russian Federation of a foreign non-governmental organization recognized as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation (part 1 of Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code). High treason in the form of providing consulting and other assistance to a foreign organization in activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation – he took part in the international public events (Article 275 of the Criminal Code).

Sentence: 25 years in prison and a fine of 400,000 rubles.

Biography: Vladimir Kara-Murza, a prominent political activist and journalist, former deputy leader of the People's Freedom Party and was a candidate for the Russian State Duma.
He is a contributing writer at the Washington Post, hosts a weekly show on Echo of Moscow radio, and has worked for the BBC, RTVi, and Kommersant. He has directed three documentary films, They Chose Freedom, Nemtsov, and My Duty to Not Stay Silent, and is the author of Reform or Revolution: The Quest for Responsible Government in the First Russian State Duma.

Vladimir Kara-Murza was a close associate of prominent opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and cooperated with former prisoner of conscience Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other political opposition groups, human rights NGOs and independent media. He is known for campaigning in support of the "Magnitsky list" and other targeted sanctions against people suspected of human rights abuses in Russia.

Vladimir Kara-Murza survived two poisoning attempts, in 2015 and 2017. According to the investigative collective Bellingcat, prior to these poisonings he had been followed by the same Federal Security Service (FSB) unit that would later poison Aleksei Navalny. There has been no investigation by the Russian authorities into either poisoning.

On 11 April, 2022 Vladimir Kara-Murza was detained in Moscow near his home. A judge ordered Vladimir Kara-Murza's administrative arrest for 15 days for "disobeying police orders". He was due to be released on 26 April. However, on 22 April, Vladimir Kara-Murza's lawyer was informed of a criminal case against his client under Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code. On the same day, a court placed Kara-Murza in pre-trial detention, and he was formally charged. The basis for the criminal charges against Vladimir Kara-Murza was his speech at the Arizona House of Representatives (in the USA) on 15 March, in which he criticized Vladimir Putin's policies, denounced what he called the West's "appeasement" of the Kremlin and highlighted the importance of the protest movement in Russia. Under Article 207.3(2)(g)(d) of the Criminal Code, he may face up to 10 years in prison.

Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code effectively criminalizes the act of criticizing or sharing information about the Russian armed forces and their violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. The article's intentionally broad and vague definitions allow arbitrary application and serve to silence public debate around the war in Ukraine. In particular, in his speech, Mr. Kara-Murza said, "Today, the whole world sees what the Putin regime is doing to Ukraine. The cluster bombs on residential areas, the bombing of maternity wards and hospitals and schools—the war crimes, these are war crimes that are being committed by the dictatorial regime in the Kremlin against a nation in the middle of Europe". Later, additional charges were added and his pre-trial detention was repeatedly extended.

On August 3, 2022, a new charge was brought against Kara-Murza for "carrying out the activities" of an "undesirable" foreign organization, under Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code. The "undesirable organization" law, adopted in 2015, was part of a series of repressive laws pushed by the Kremlin to suppress fundamental freedoms and independent voices, targeting nonprofit and non-governmental organizations that receive funding from foreign sources – mainly from Europe and the United States. Under the "undesirables" law, the Russian prosecutor's office can designate a foreign or international organization as "undesirable" if it undermines Russia's security, defense, or constitutional order. Under this law, authorities accused Kara-Murza of using funds from the US-based Free Russia Foundation ("FRF") to organize a conference in October 2021 in support of political prisoners in Russia. Under this charge, Kara-Murza faces up to 4 years in prison.

On October 6, 2022 Kara-Murza was additionally charged with high treason under Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code. Kara-Murza has been charged after speaking out critically against the Russian authorities three times – at public events in Lisbon, Oslo and Washington. Specifically, Kara-Murza criticized the illegitimacy of election campaigns in Russia, including the presidential election in 2024 in one instance. In another, he made a claim that there is state terror in Russia in the form of the prosecution and politically motivated killing of citizens by the political reasons. In a third instance, he pointed out the existence of "an information iron curtain" in the Russian Federation and the need for it to be destroyed in order to provide citizens with the truth about the situation in Ukraine and the commission of war crimes. He now risks an additional sentence of up 20 years if convicted on high treason charges.

On December 8, 2022 Kara-Murza's detention was extended again until February 12, 2023.

He has received several awards, including the Sakharov Prize for Journalism as an Act of Conscience, the Magnitsky Human Rights Award, and the Geneva Summit Courage Award.

Advocates: Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) & Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA)

Advocacy Partner: Freedom House

Vladimir Kara-Murza was RELEASED as part of a prisoner swap on August 1, 2024.

Updates:

• On March 22, 2023 a bicameral resolution (S.Con.Res.7 & H.Con.Res.27) calling for the release of Vladimir Kara-Murza was introduced by Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Congressmen Steve Cohen (D-TN), William R. Keating (D-MA), Joe Wilson (R-SC), and Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), entitled "Condemning Russia's unjust and arbitrary detention of Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza who has stood up in defense of democracy, the rule of law, and free and fair elections in Russia." (March 22, 2023, Office of Senator Ben Cardin; Congress.gov). An additional resolution (S.Res.145) calling for Kara-Murza's release was introduced in the Senate on March 30, 2023 by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) with Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Chris Coons (D-DE), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and James Risch (R-ID) as original co-sponsors (March 20, 2023, Congress.gov).
• In recognition of the first anniversary of Kara-Murza's arrest on April 11, Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, released a statement calling for his release (April 14, 2023, House Committee on Foreign Affairs).
• On April 17, 2023, Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined 400,000 rubles (April 17, 2023, BBC). After his sentencing, his wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, and his defense attorney, Vadim Prokhorov, participated in an event with Washington Post Live, where they discussed Vladimir Kara-Murza's commitment to human rights and democracy and expressed devastation over the harsh sentence as well as concern for his health (April 17, 2023, Washington Post).
• Following the sentencing of Vladimir Kara-Murza, many international leaders, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić, released statements condemning the sentence and calling for his release (April 17, 2023, OHCHR; Council of Europe).
• At the 1419th Plenary Meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Canadian Ambassador Jocelyn Kinnear delivered a joint statement on behalf of Canada, Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom which recognized Kara-Murza's contributions to human rights and democracy, and condemned his sentencing as well as other ongoing rights violations in Russia (April 20, 2023, OSCE).
• Vadim Prokhorov, Vladimir Kara-Murza's defense attorney, reported that he had to flee Russia prior to Kara-Murza's sentencing after recieving a warning that he may be criminally prosecuted for representing his client (April 20, 2023, BBC).
• On April 21, 2023, the United Kingdom sanctioned five individuals linked to Vladimir Kara-Murza's poisoning and arrest (April 21, 2023, UK Government).
• On April 24, 2023, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held an event to express solidarity with Russian and Belarusian political prisoners and "pay tribute" to Vladimir Kara-Murza, along with Ales Bialiatski and Maria Kalesnikava of Belarus (April 24, 2023, Council of Europe).
• On June 13, 2023, the Parliament of Canada voted to grant Vladimir Kara-Murza honorary Canadian citizenship (June 13, 2023, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights).
• Vladimir Kara-Murza's case was highlighed in a June 25, 2023 op-ed in Forbes, which called for the international community to do more to push for the release of Kara-Murza and other detained human rights defenders (June 25, 2023, Forbes).
• At the June 2023 Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on rights to freedom of peaceful assembly & of association in Geneva, UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations Simon Manley highlighted Kara-Murza's case during his remarks (June 28, 2023, UK Government).
• On July 20, 2023, the European Union announced that it would be implementing targeted sanctions on individuals and entities in five countries, including Russia, in response to human rights violations, citing the cases of Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alexei Navalny in their explanation (July 20, 2023, Reuters).
• On July 28, 2023, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation Mariana Katzarova called for Vladimir Kara-Murza's immediate and unconditional release as well as a "transparent and impartial review of [his] case in accordance with international human rights standards" (July 28. 2023. OHCHR).
• On July 31, 2023, Vladimir Kara-Murza lost an appeal against his sentence (July, 31, 2023, Reuters).
• Following the rejection of the appeal, the United Kingdom imposed new sanctions on six individuals involved in the trial (July, 31, 2023, UK Government). The Embassy of Russia in London responded the following day, stating that the sanctions displayed "arrogance" and were "an inadmissible attempt to interfere in the domestic affairs [of Russia]" which they claimed to be in violation of international law (August 1, 2023, The Embassy of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).
• The Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, non-partisan think tank which publishes Foreign Affairs magazine, highlighted Kara-Murza's case in an article titled "Kara-Murza's Courage is a Message to All of Us" (August 1, 2023, Council on Foreign Relations).
• In a statement made on August 6, 2023, Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić expressed concern over the state of human rights in Russia and called for the release of Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alexei Navalny (August 6, 2023, Council of Europe).
• On August 15, 2023, Vladimir Kara-Murza published an Op-Ed in the Washington Post entitled "Many Russians refuse to become silent accomplices to Putin’s war — at great cost," in which he discussed his experience during his trial and sentencing, and the dangers faced by Russians who exercise their right to free expression (August 15, 2023, Washington Post).
• On August 18, 2023, Human Rights First published an article providing an overview of the sanctions that had been imposed to date related to the case of Vladimir Kara-Murza, and included recommendations for next steps (August 18, 2023, Human Rights First).
• Following the death of Wagner Group leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin in a plane crash on August 23, multiple news outlets, including the Washington Post and Reuters, ran articles summarizing what has happened to other "rivals" of President Vladimir Putin, which highlighted cases such as Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alexei Navalny, among others (August 24, 2023, Washington Post; Reuters).
• On August 30, 2023, Vladimir Kara-Murza published an Op-Ed in the Washington Post entitled "Vladimir Kara-Murza from jail: What happened when I saw Alexei Navalny," which discussed his experiences in seeing other opposition leaders when they've encountered each other in prison, as well as his most recent encounter with his colleague Alexei Navalny (August 30, 2023, Washington Post).
• Multiple statements calling for Kara-Murza's release were published on September 7, 2023 in recognition of his 42nd birthday, including ones released by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, the UK government, and the Index on Censorship (September 7, 2023, U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Russia; UK government; Index on Censorship).
• On September 11, 2023, Vladimir Kara-Murza published an Op-Ed in the Washington Post entitled "Change will come to Russia — abruptly and unexpectedly," calling for full transparency from the Russian government on past and present rights abuses (September 11, 2023, Washington Post).
• On September 20, 2023 the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe held a hearing about Kara-Murza's persecution entitled "Vladimir Kara-Murza: Putin's Personal Prisoner". The hearing was led by Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) (September 20, 2023, CSCE). It explored why they believe the United States should designate Vladimir Kara-Murza as wrongfully detained under the Levinson Act (September 20, 2023, Office of Congressman Steve Cohen).
• Following the death of Alexei Navalny, a joint letter was sent to President Biden calling for him to increase efforts to secure Vladimir Kara-Murza's release (February 22, 2024, Freedom House).
• During their statement for the "Item 4 General debate on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention" at the 55th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the European Union called for the immediate, unconditional release of Rahile Dawut, Ilham Tohti, Gulshan Abbas, Gao Zhisheng, Xu Zhiyong, Wang Yi, Ekpar Asat, Wang Bingzhang, and John Cao (who had been released on March 5, 2024) in China and Vladimir Kara-Murza in Russia, among others, as well as raised the general situation of arbitrary detainees in Belarus and Iran, and highlighted concerns over the death in custody of Alexei Navalny (March 20, 2024, Delegation of the European Union to the UN).
• Vladimir Kara-Murza's lawyers were informed on July 4, 2024, that he had been transferred to Omsk Federal Penitentiary Service Regional Hospital 11. The lawyers had not had contact with him since July 2 and continued to be denied access to him as of July 9. The authorities at the hospital initially denied that he had been admitted before confirming that he was in the hospital once visiting hours had ended (July 9, 2024, Free Russia Foundation; July 5 2024, Agence France Presse).