Putin’s Political Prisoner Refuses to Stay Silent

Vladimir Kara-Murza had already been poisoned twice by the time I met him. Russian president Vladimir Putin’s agents had tried to kill the 41-year-old journalist, documentarian, and protégé of slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in 2015 and again in 2017. Kara-Murza was placed in a medically induced stupor after the second poisoning. It lasted for more than two weeks.

I was captivated and scared to meet the animated, fearless, charming, and eloquent married father of three. He shared his life, parenting, as well as mutual acquaintances. He stated that he enjoyed the Washington Free Beacon. Having admired from a distance his courageous stand for freedom, I marveled at Kara-Murza’s ability to connect with strangers, his generosity, his humor. I wasn’t the only one. There are many people around the world who share my gratitude and hope for his future in a democratic Russia. Senator John McCain (R.-Ariz.) was one such person. He asked Kara-Murza, before his death, to be a pallbearer at the September 2018 funeral.

Kara-Murza now resides in prison. For criticizing the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Kara-Murza was taken into custody in Moscow on April 11, 2022. Speech Arizona House of Representatives. He was sent to jail for 15 days. Subsequently, he was accused of spreading false information about Putin’s army and remained in captivity. The Russian authorities added an additional charge for working with an accomplice last August. “undesirable”—that is, pro-democracy—nongovernmental organization. Kara-Murza’s detention continued. In October last year, Kara-Murza was charged with high treason. Maximum sentence: 20 years.

Let’s be clear about what is going on here. Kara-Murza does not belong to any oligarch. He is not a foreign agent. He is also not a saboteur. He is both a writer and filmmaker, who has British and Russian passports. He’s an activist who committed the “crime”—one flinches at calling it that—of stating his views in public on a matter of global concern. Russia’s current law makes it an enemy to voice a dissident opinion.

For pointing out the illegality and barbarism of Putin’s unprovoked aggression against the sovereign nation of Ukraine, Kara-Murza joined the ranks of at least 19,535 Russian Federation citizens who were detained because they protested the war. Their defiance reflects a universal desire to freedom, religious and civil liberty, self-government, and the rule of law.