Latvia bans 10 Russian citizens from entering after Kara-Murze’s sentence

Latvia has banned 10 Russian citizens from entering the territory of their country who are connected with the case of politician Vladimir Kara-Murza (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation). This was announced by the country’s Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics on his Twitter account.

“I have decided to impose a ban on the entry into the country of 10 Russian persons associated with this case,” the statement said. Rinkevics also condemned the verdict, calling it “unfair and harsh”.

Earlier, April 17, Moscow City Court sentenced Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison for treason, discrediting the army and participation in the activities of an undesirable organization, as well as to restriction of freedom for a period of six months and a fine of 400,000 rubles. He was also banned from journalism for 7 years after his release from prison.

After the verdict, the British Foreign Office also called Russian Ambassador Andrey Kelin. The British Foreign Office recalled that Kara-Murza is also a citizen of the United Kingdom.

Earlier, the prosecutor asked to sentence Kara-Murza to 25 years on the basis of the three crimes he is accused of. The politician has been under arrest since April 2022, since then this measure of restraint has been repeatedly carried out.

In April 2022, Kara-Murza was detained on suspicion of disseminating deliberately false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (under clause “e”, part 2, article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to investigators, Kara-Murza during his speech in the Parliament of Arizona (USA) spread fakes about the Russian army. Kara-Murza himself did not admit his guilt. At the end of April, he was arrested, at the same time the Ministry of Justice assigned him the status of an individual – a foreign agent. In July last year, a case was also opened against him for participation in the activities of an undesirable organization (part 1 of article 284.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In October, it became known that a treason case was opened against Kara-Murza (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).