The Kremlin is once again “playing” with the fate of its opponents imprisoned in Russian prisons. As was the case a few weeks ago with Alexei Navalni, Vladimir Putin’s main opponent, who appeared in an Arctic prison after several days in an unknown location, he released Vladimir Kara-Murzá, who had been sentenced to 25 years in prison, from the prison in which he was being held He was sentenced to years in prison for treason and criticism of the war in Ukraine.
The opponent left the Siberian prison where he had been held since October 2023 with an uncertain destination, as his supporters reported on Monday, who visited him and did not find him.
The administration of the IK-6 prison in the Omsk region confirmed that Kara-Murzá had been transferred when human rights activist Alexandr Podrabinek tried to send him a letter, Efe reports. Podrabinek assured this on Facebook The whereabouts of Kara-Murzá, who was held in Omsk, 2,700 kilometers from Moscow, for less than six months, is unknown..
In September 2023 The opposition activist and journalist was brought from Moscow to Omsk for almost three weeks, a particularly traumatic process known in Russia as “etapirovanie” (staged relocation). As soon as Kara-Murzá arrived at IK-6, he was placed in a punishment cell for committing an infraction.
According to Efe, Russian prison authorities ordered the opponent’s transfer without waiting for the judge’s decision on the appeal filed by his defense. The US Embassy in Moscow condemned the political persecution of its opponent, a process it sees as “politically motivated”.
The opposition believes the Kremlin had been targeting Kara-Murzá, one of the initiators of the Magnitsky Act, the first list of sanctions against the Kremlin, for years, even though he returned to Russia earlier this year.
Kara-Murzá, the He wrote opinion articles for media outlets such as The Washington Post, He was arrested in April for allegedly collaborating with NATO countries and discrediting the armed forces in a March 15 speech in the Arizona House of Representatives.
Considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, was awarded the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize 2022 awarded by the Council of Europe.
He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason and other charges related to his criticism of the war in Ukraine and suffered an attempted poisoning. He is considered one of Putin’s biggest opponents.
The UK is asking Moscow for urgent explanations
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron called on the Russian authorities this Monday to “urgently” communicate the whereabouts of Vladimir Kara Murza. “Russia must urgently inform Vladimir Kara Murza’s lawyers of his whereabouts following reports that he was moved from Omsk to an unknown location. “I am deeply concerned for Mr. Kara Murza, a British citizen who is imprisoned in Russia for speaking out against the invasion of Ukraine,” he noted.
Likewise, the head of British diplomacy has expressed his support for the opponent’s wife, Eugenia Kara Murza, with whom he “plans to meet soon”, as he stated in his profile on the social network.