MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has avoided commenting on the Moscow City Court’s decision to sentence public figure and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia) to 25 years in a maximum-security penitentiary for treason.
"You know that we never comment on court decisions. Nor shall we do so this time," Peskov told the media on Monday.
According to the prosecution, Kara-Murza during a speech in the lower house of the legislature of the US state of Arizona groundlessly accused the Russian army of using prohibited means and methods of warfare in Ukraine. Also, he held a conference in support of political prisoners at the Sakharov Center in Moscow (recognized in Russia as a foreign agent) on October 27, 2021.
According to the investigation, the conference was funded by the Free Russia Foundation NGO (recognized as an undesirable organization in Russia). The essence of the treason charges were not disclosed. The defendant pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Kara-Murza had previously cooperated with the Free Russia Foundation and Open Russia (recognized as undesirable in Russia by the Prosecutor General's Office) and called for sanctions against Russia and its individual representatives since the introduction of the so-called Magnitsky Act.