The U.Ok. authorities has summoned Moscow’s ambassador to London after Kremlin critic and twin Russian/British citizen Vladimir Kara-Murza was jailed for 25 years in a case described by the U.Ok. Overseas Workplace as “politically motivated.”
Kara-Murza was arrested in April 2022 and charged with spreading false details about the Russian military in Ukraine. He was later additionally charged with “excessive treason” over speeches by which he criticized Kremlin insurance policies and the struggle in Ukraine.
He mentioned that Russia had dedicated struggle crimes in Ukraine with cluster bombs in residential areas. These incidents have been independently documented however deemed false by Russian investigators.
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In a defiant deal with to the court docket final week earlier than his sentencing, Kara-Murza mentioned: “I solely blame myself for one factor, I didn’t persuade sufficient of my compatriots and politicians in democratic international locations of the hazard that the present Kremlin regime poses for Russia and for the world.”
The court docket in Moscow additionally imposed a 400,000 ruble high-quality ($4,900) on Kara-Murza and barred him from journalistic exercise for seven years, state information company Interfax reported, noting that his protection crew would problem the sentence in an appeals court docket.
When contacted for remark, the U.Ok. Overseas and Commonwealth Workplace (FCO) referred Newsweek to its media assertion saying it had summoned Moscow’s envoy to London, Andrey Kelin, “after the politically-motivated conviction and sentencing.” The FCO mentioned it’s going to clarify that the U.Ok. views the conviction as in opposition to Russia’s worldwide obligations on human rights and the proper to a good trial.
British overseas secretary James Cleverly paid tribute to Kara-Murza and his household, “together with his spouse Evgenia and her unwavering dedication to elevating her husband’s trigger on the worldwide stage.”
“The U.Ok. will proceed to assist them and to name for Mr. Kara-Murza’s rapid launch,” Cleverly mentioned within the assertion.
His 25-year time period is the longest given to any Russian opposition determine and has provoked worldwide outrage.”
“This sentence is yet one more mockery of justice,” exiled Belarusian opposition chief, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya tweeted. “He’s a courageous & clever voice of purpose opposing Putin’s inhuman regime & the aggression in opposition to Ukraine,” she added.
Rachel Denber, deputy director, Europe and Central Asia division Human Rights Watch, described the decision as a “monstrous travesty of justice” that needs to be “vacated and he needs to be instantly and unconditionally freed.”
In 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza out of the blue fell sick in what he mentioned had been poisonings by the Russian safety providers. Russian authorities denied involvement within the incidents.
Following the nerve agent Novichok assault of one other Kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny, Kara-Murza instructed Newsweek in September 2020 how the Kremlin playbook of poisoning opponents was “a sadistic methodology” that was “excruciatingly painful to need to stay via.”