Vladimir Kara-Murza was awarded the maximum – Newspaper Kommersant No. 67 (7512) dated 04/18/2023

The Moscow City Court sentenced public figure and publicist Vladimir Kara-Murza (included by the Ministry of Justice in the list of foreign agents) to 25 years in a strict regime colony on charges of treason, spreading false information about the Russian army and leading an undesirable organization. He is also banned from journalism for seven years. Judge Sergei Podoprigorov announced this decision on Monday. Mr. Kara-Murza himself met the verdict with a smile, and the ambassadors of the United States, Great Britain and Canada staged an impromptu rally of solidarity with the convict outside the courthouse.

Only the operative part of the decision was announced in court: at the end of 2022, judges received the right not to spend energy reading the entire verdict and are now actively using this right. But, since the process in the case of treason was held behind closed doors, the motivational part in any case was not subject to public disclosure.

Recall that Vladimir Kara-Murza was arrested in April 2022 on charges of disseminating deliberately false information about the armed forces of the Russian Federation (part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to the investigation, in March 2022, the oppositionist, speaking to the legislators of the state of Arizona (USA), disseminated deliberately false information about the actions and methods of the RF Armed Forces in Ukraine. Later, the accusation under Art. 284.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (carrying out the activities of an undesirable organization): the reason was the holding in Moscow in October 2021 of a “conference in support of political prisoners”, which, according to the investigation, was paid for by the Free Russia Foundation registered in the USA (recognized in the Russian Federation in 2019 undesirable organization). Finally, under Art. 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (treason), three public statements by Mr. Kara-Murza criticizing the Russian authorities at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Lisbon (October 2021), at the Helsinki Committee in Oslo (also October 2021) and in Washington at the Helsinki Commission of the US Congress were qualified (March 2022). According to the investigation, the speeches were also carried out on behalf of Free Russia.

As previously explained by “Kommersant” Kara-Murza’s lawyer Vadim Prokhorov, this is the first known case when a new, expanded version of the article on treason is applied: now not only the transfer of secret information can be recognized as such, but simply the provision of assistance to a foreign state or organization in activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation .

It was under this extended article that Vladimir Kara-Murza received most of his term – 18 years in prison. Another seven years he was sentenced for fakes about the army and three for participation in the activities of an undesirable organization.

As a result, according to the principle of partial addition of punishments, the 25 years previously requested by the prosecutor were obtained.

Despite the high interest (40 diplomats from 24 countries came to the Moscow City Court, and a huge queue gathered at the entrance), the announcement of the verdict took place in the same small hall as the whole process, so most viewers and journalists had to limit themselves to broadcasting. Of the relatives, only the defendant’s mother, Elena Gordon, was able to get into the hall, who complained that her sister, Mr. Kara-Murza’s nephew, and his confessor were not allowed there. “A person in such a situation wants to see loved ones,” she explained. Vladimir Kara-Murza himself, who, as his lawyers repeatedly reminded him, did not admit the charges and considers his speeches to be the normal activity of an opposition politician, did not complain about anything. And when he heard the number 25, he smiled broadly and winked at his mother.

Approximately by this time, everyone was ready, but they thought that the court would at least symbolically reduce the punishment relative to that requested by the prosecution, lawyer Maria Eismont later told reporters. But the court imposed the maximum possible punishment that could only be given to a person with no previous convictions – and it was in no way possible to assign a father of three children, Ms. Eismont believes: “This is a terrible, but high assessment of Vladimir’s work as a politician, he perceives it that way.” Now, according to her, the defense team is most concerned about the state of health of the client: Kara-Murza was hospitalized twice with signs of severe poisoning (in 2015 and 2017.— “b”), he was diagnosed with polyneuropathy, which is included in the list of diseases that prevent serving a sentence.

On the steps of the Moscow City Court building after the announcement of the verdict, something completely unprecedented happened: three ambassadors, Deborah Bronnert (Great Britain), Lynn Tracy (USA) and Alison Leclerc (Canada), took turns speaking in solidarity with Vladimir Kara-Murza and his family before the media.

Foreign diplomats are not uncommon guests at “high-profile” trials – for example, they regularly attended the trials of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. But usually they prefer to watch in silence, and then there was almost a rally. Mrs. Tracy regarded the court’s decision as an attempt to stifle dissent in the country, advocated for the right of Russians to express their own opinion and called for the “immediate release” of Vladimir Kara-Murza. Ms. Bronnert also spoke out for the abolition of the verdict. And Ms. Leclerc, recalling how a free and democratic Russia tried to come into being decades ago in a struggle, noted that today’s verdict is a sad testimony to the “dark turn” that ended this struggle. Later, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, said that the department considers the statements of diplomats about the cancellation of the verdict unacceptable; such a reaction in the Foreign Ministry is considered an example of “shameless hypocrisy” and an attempt to put pressure on the Russian judicial system.

After the ambassadors left, an elderly man came out to the microphones and said that he had written poems about Vladimir Kara-Murza and even began to read them. When he finished, he announced that he had also written many other interesting poems, but then they shouted “enough” to him, and the poet had to shut up.

“My feelings? A feeling of blatant absurdity, – Elena Gordon shared with journalists in the meantime. – It seemed to me that I fell asleep and woke up in a book by Kafka or Ionesco. What is going on?”

Anastasia Kornya