MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. The First Appeal Court has upheld the decision to sentence publicist Vladimir Kara-Murza (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia) to 25 years in prison for state treason and a number of other crimes, the court told TASS.

"The court considered the appeal of Kara-Murza's defense and decided to leave the decision of the court of first instance unchanged, and the appeal of the convict's lawyers - without satisfaction," the court said.

Earlier, the Moscow City Court sentenced Kara-Murza to 25 years in a maximum-security prison and a fine of 400,000 rubles ($4,880), banned him from any journalism-related activities for seven years, and ruled that his freedom be limited for six months after his release from incarceration.

According to the court ruling, he was found guilty of crimes stipulated under Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code (RCC) ("Public Dissemination of Knowingly False Information About the Deployment of the Russian Armed Forces"), Part 1, Article 284.1 of the RCC ("Execution of Activities of a Foreign or International Organization Whose Activity Has Been Declared Undesirable on the Territory of the Russian Federation"), and Article 275 of the RCC ("High Treason").

According to the prosecution, the publicist accused the Russian Armed Forces of using prohibited means and methods of war in Ukraine during his speech before Arizona lawmakers. In addition, he held a conference in support of political prisoners in the Sakharov Center (deemed foreign agent in Russia) on October 27, 2021. According to the investigators, the conference was funded by the Free Russia Foundation NGO (deemed undesirable in Russia). The substance of high treason charges is not disclosed. The defendant denied all charges.