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Moscow court sentences columnist Kara-Murza to 25 years’ incarceration for treason

On Monday, Russian Ambassador to London Andrey Kelin was summoned to the British Foreign Office over the sentencing of Kara-Murza, who holds both British and Russian citizenship

Vladimir Kara-Murza Moscow City Court Press Office/TASS

Vladimir Kara-Murza

© Moscow City Court Press Office/TASS

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. A Moscow court on Monday sentenced columnist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is on Russia’s list of foreign agents, to serve 25 years in a maximum security penal colony on charges of treason, spreading false information about the Russian Army and leading a non-grata organization, a TASS correspondent reported.

Moscow City Court Judge Sergey Podoprigorov announced the verdict, under which Kara-Murza also faces a fine of 400,000 rubles ($4,900), along with a seven-year ban on engaging in journalism. Also, the convicted individual will remain under arrest for six months after he is released from the penal colony and the amount of 153,000 rubles ($1,900) belonging to him will be frozen as an injunctive measure until the verdict takes effect.

Earlier, a state prosecutor demanded that Kara-Murza be sentenced to 25 years in a maximum security facility.

The defense will appeal the verdict, attorney Maria Eismont told TASS, citing major procedural violations.

On Monday, Russian Ambassador to London Andrey Kelin was summoned to the British Foreign Office over the sentencing of Kara-Murza, who holds both British and Russian citizenship. The UK condemned what it said was the politically motivated conviction of Kara-Murza, claiming it to be "contrary to Russia’s international obligations on human rights."

Prosecutors contend that the journalist, during a speech he delivered to the Arizona State House of Representatives (lower house of the Arizona Legislature), groundlessly accused the Russian Army of using prohibited means and methods of warfare in its special military operation in Ukraine.

In late October 2021, Kara-Murza held a conference in support of political prisoners at the Moscow-based Sakharov Center (designated as a foreign agent in Russia). Investigators claim that the conference was sponsored by the Free Russia Foundation, a non-profit organization designated as non grata in Russia.

The material substance of the treason charges has not been disclosed. The defendant pled not guilty to all of the charges.

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