Kremlin Opponent Vladimir Kara-Murza Sentenced to 25 Years for Treason

Prosecutors, who had sought a 25-year sentence, charged him with treason, among other crimes, and discrediting the Russian army by spreading “deliberately false information” about its conduct in what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

A “politically motivated” sentence

After learning he would spend the next 25 years in a high-security penal colony, Kara-Murza declared, “Russia will be free,” a well-known opposition slogan. According to one of his lawyers, Maria Eismont, he saw the heavy sentence as recognition of his effective work as an opposition politician.

“When he found out he had 25 years, he said: ‘My self-esteem has increased, I understand that I did everything correctly. This is the highest score I could have gotten for what I did, for what I believed in as a citizen and patriot,'” she said.

Eismont announced that Kara-Murza’s team would appeal Monday’s ruling, which she called marred by legal violations. The Kremlin, asked about the verdict, said it does not comment on court decisions.

In London, Britain – which imposed sanctions on the judge presiding over the case in 2020 for alleged human rights violations – said it had summoned the Russian ambassador to protest what it called a “politically motivated” conviction.

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British and American ambassadors denounce the conviction

Outside the Moscow court, British Ambassador Deborah Bronnert told reporters that Kara-Murza had been punished for bravely denouncing Russia’s war in Ukraine and demanded his immediate release.

U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy, speaking alongside her, said Kara-Murza’s conviction was an attempt to silence dissent.

“The criminalization of criticism of government action is a sign of weakness, not strength,” Tracy said.

Shortly after sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year, Russia introduced wartime censorship laws that have been used to silence dissenting voices.

Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of analysis firm R.Politik, said Kara-Murza’s lobbying for sanctions against Russia had long irritated the Kremlin and that his conviction was a warning.

“This is a verdict meant to send a signal and probably not the last of its kind,” she wrote on the messaging app Telegram.

“In the future, security services may be much less discerning and grab anyone if they are on Russian territory and critical of Putin’s regime. This is a warning to all anti-Putin activists – don’t come back or we will put you in jail, de facto for life.”