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Who’s Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza? What to know after his sentencing.

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Russia sentenced Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza on Monday to 25 years in prison on charges of treason, its harshest penalty but for an opponent of its struggle in Ukraine and the most recent instance of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sweeping crackdown on dissent.

Listed below are 4 key issues to find out about Kara-Murza, a Washington Submit Opinions contributor, who has called his arrest “the value for talking up in Russia right now.”

Who’s Vladimir Kara-Murza?

Kara-Murza, 41, is a longtime opposition politician, historian and activist who has written opinion items for The Submit lately about life in Russia. He has been important of Putin and the Russian chief’s resolution to invade Ukraine. In January, Kara-Murza wrote that “Russians are living in a frightening, distorted reality,” considered one of a lot of opinion articles written from his jail cell.

Kara-Murza has been detained in Moscow since his arrest in April 2022. His trial, he has stated, successfully turned the clock back to the Stalinist political repression of the Nineteen Thirties.

Whereas Kara-Murza holds British and Russian passports, he opted to not embrace a full-time life within the West. He has been residing in Russia, insisting that he could only advocate for the rights and freedoms of residents if he was uncovered to the identical travails they face. He’s considered one of few Kremlin critics nonetheless residing on Russian soil amid rising threats to those that communicate out in opposition to the federal government, The Submit reported. Kara-Murza’s spouse, Evgenia Kara-Murza, and their three youngsters dwell in the US.

Kara-Murza served as deputy chief of Russian opposition group Folks’s Freedom Occasion from 2015 to 2016. He was a longtime affiliate of Boris Nemtsov, the Russian opposition chief who was assassinated exterior the Kremlin in 2015.

Kara-Murza was poisoned for the primary time in 2015, based on his spouse. She wrote about the near-fatal assault in an opinion piece for The Submit final 12 months, including that he was poisoned a second time in 2017. Kara-Murza stated each poisonings had been orchestrated by the Kremlin. Russia denied involvement within the assaults, which left him in a coma on each events.

Russia sentences Kara-Murza, Putin critic and Post contributor, to 25 years

Why was Kara-Murza arrested?

Kara-Murza was arrested final April on fees of spreading false data. Authorities cited a speech he delivered to Arizona lawmakers condemning Russian navy actions in Ukraine.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin has made it clear that criticism of his “particular navy operation” is not going to be tolerated. Russian struggle critics and dissenters have been punished with arrests, monetary penalties and jail time.

Many journalists have fled the nation, and media organizations have been pressured to shut since Putin signed a legislation in opposition to “faux” information following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The media clampdown in Russia has decimated a journalism group already floor to close extinction over years of oppression, The Submit reported final 12 months.

Washington Post contributor arrested in Moscow after criticizing Putin

Monday’s sentencing of Kara-Murza was strongly condemned by Western governments, with the US and Britain calling for his quick launch. The U.S. State Division has described the fees as false and has imposed sanctions on Russian officers concerned within the case for “gross violation of human rights.”

Since his arrest, these closest to Kara-Murza have expressed concern for his well being. His legal professionals say he has misplaced virtually 50 kilos within the final 12 months and that he is probably not nicely sufficient to outlive 25 years behind bars.

What’s subsequent after Kara-Murza’s sentencing?

In Russia’s extremely politicized authorized system, the court docket’s verdict was by no means unsure. The prosecutor had sought the utmost jail time period of 25 years, and Kara-Murza declined to request an acquittal.

Maria Eismont, considered one of Kara-Murza’s legal professionals, stated they plan to attraction the decision, based on Reuters.

What else to find out about Kara-Murza’s schooling, writing and activism

Kara-Murza holds bachelor’s and grasp’s levels in historical past from Britain’s College of Cambridge. Members of the college’s historical past college expressed their “solidarity” with Kara-Murza in a statement Monday, in addition to their “dismay on the merciless sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment meted out to him.”

Kara-Murza has stated that his Cambridge schooling has served him nicely in his profession as a journalist. In a letter written to Novaya Gazeta Europe, he famous how, as a pupil, he specialised in “the historical past of the dissident motion within the Soviet Union” and wrote his thesis about “the primary (pre-revolution) State Duma.”

Whereas at Cambridge, Kara-Murza started writing articles for Russian and British information retailers. In 2004, he moved to Washington, D.C., to develop into bureau chief for RTVi, or Russian Tv Worldwide, a information web site that caters to Russians residing exterior their nation, according to the Library of Congress.

He has since had an extended profession in media, contributing to The Submit and different retailers and internet hosting a weekly radio present on Echo of Moscow. He has directed three documentaries about political dissent within the Soviet Union and Russia, together with a documentary about Nemtsov, the Kremlin critic and a longtime colleague. Kara-Murza is the writer of the ebook, “Reform or Revolution: The Quest for Accountable Authorities within the First Russian State Duma.”

Kara-Murza has acquired a number of awards for his work and activism, together with the Sakharov Prize for Journalism as an Act of Conscience and the Magnitsky Human Rights Award.

Robyn Dixon contributed to this report.

One 12 months of Russia’s struggle in Ukraine

Portraits of Ukraine: Each Ukrainian’s life has modified since Russia launched its full-scale invasion one 12 months in the past — in methods each large and small. They’ve discovered to outlive and assist one another under extreme circumstances, in bomb shelters and hospitals, destroyed condominium complexes and ruined marketplaces. Scroll through portraits of Ukrainians reflecting on a year of loss, resilience and fear.

Battle of attrition: Over the previous 12 months, the struggle has morphed from a multi-front invasion that included Kyiv within the north to a battle of attrition largely concentrated alongside an expanse of territory within the east and south. Follow the 600-mile front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces and take a look at where the fighting has been concentrated.

A 12 months of residing aside: Russia’s invasion, coupled with Ukraine’s martial legislation stopping fighting-age males from leaving the nation, has pressured agonizing choices for tens of millions of Ukrainian households about how to balance safety, duty and love, with once-intertwined lives having develop into unrecognizable. Right here’s what a train station full of goodbyes appeared like final 12 months.

Deepening international divides: President Biden has trumpeted the reinvigorated Western alliance cast through the struggle as a “international coalition,” however a better look suggests the world is far from united on issues raised by the Ukraine war. Proof abounds that the hassle to isolate Putin has failed and that sanctions haven’t stopped Russia, because of its oil and fuel exports.

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