‘Proof that today’s Russia is returning to the practices of Stalin’s political terror’

Russia’s journalists and human rights defenders demand that terror policy against Russian citizens be stopped and Vladimir Kara-Murza be released. An open letter

10 April 2023, 09:06 GMT

Vladimir Kara-Murza during trial. Photo: Alexandra Astakhova

The prosecutor has requested 25 years in prison for politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is in jail on a range of unfounded charges.
Vladimir Kara-Murza is a true Russian patriot and he has been against Russia’s aggression from the first days of the war that brings endless disasters to the Ukrainian people and claims the lives of Russian military and mobilised citizens. But today in Russia, advocating for peace and the end of the war is a criminal offence.
However, in addition to this unlawful and shameful accusation, Kara-Murza was charged with another one, treason. His betrayal was, as the prosecutor insists, speaking at international forums condemning the war and the persecution of dissidents in Putin’s Russia. The prosecutor considers these words and opinions to be deserving of the same sentence as murder with many aggravating circumstances.
Today, Kara-Murza is in a pre-trial detention centre and is waiting for a monstrous sentence, de-facto a life sentence, for speaking out against the war. Vladimir Kara-Murza survived two assassination attempts in a short time; he suffered attempted poisoning twice. These attempts, fortunately, failed, but dealt a serious blow to his health. Despite the fact that even prison doctors are sounding the alarm because of how serious his diagnosis is (polyneuropathy, which means potential legs paralysis), the judge considers it possible to keep Kara-Murza in a pre-trial detention centre, where full-fledged treatment is not available. At the same time, Vladimir’s diagnosis is included in the list of diseases that prevent him from serving his sentence.
We believe that all charges against Vladimir Kara-Murza are politically motivated, and charges of treason are especially cynical. It was Kara-Murza who ensured that the politicians of Western countries realised that it was not “the whole country” that was to blame for the repressive actions and aggressive foreign policy of the Russian state, but specific people.
We find it evident that these completely unfounded accusations and the requested sentence is proof that today’s Russia is returning to the practices of Stalin’s political terror. Terror against dissent and its own people cost Russia hundreds of thousands of lives in the last century. This terror began with show trials of political opponents and dissidents, and ended with mass executions and imprisonment of ordinary citizens, including those who welcomed the early show trials and were involved in organising those.
We demand that Russian authorities, law enforcement officers, and judges get back on the track of justice. They must exercise their justice against murderers and other criminals, and not honest and responsible citizens who dare speak the truth. This is required to stop Russia from sloping down to Stalinism and totalitarian regime.
Freedom to Vladimir Kara-Murza!

Signed by:

Svetlana Anokhina, journalist

Ilya Ber, Provereno.Media

Andrey Borzenko, Libo/Libo

Irina Borogan, Agentura.ru

Irina Vershinina, Redkollegia

Evgenia Volunkova, journalist

Alexander Gavrilov, author

Maxim Glikin, journalist

Andrey Goryanov, journalist

Mikhail Danilovich, The New Tab

Sarkis Darbinyan, Roskomsvoboda

Tikhon Dzyadko, TV Rain

Dmitry Durnev, journalist

Andrey Zatirko, journalist

Andrey Zakharov, journalist

Boris Zimin, Zimin Foundation

Maria Zonina, Redkollegia

Mikhail Zygar, author

Tatiana Ivanova, paper.ru

Mikhail Kaluzhsky, Editorial Board

Denis Kamalyagin, Pskovskaya Gubernia

Pavel Kanygin, Prodolzhenie Sleduet

Maria Karpenko, journalist

Maxim Katz, politician

Mikhail Klimarev, Internet Protection Society

Dmitry Kolezev, Republic

Ivan Kolpakov, Meduza

Ekaterina Kotrikadze, TV Rain

Ilya Krasilshchik, Helpdesk.media

Fedor Krasheninnikov, political scientist

Maxim Kournikov, Echo

Veronika Kutsyllo, Polygon Media

Alexandra Livergant, Zimin Foundation

Sergei Lukashevsky, Sakharov Centre

Maria Makeeva, OstWest

Ivan Makridin, The New Tab

Alesya Marokhovskaya, IStories

Kirill Martynov, Novaya Gazeta Europe

Ekaterina Martynova, DOXA

Vasily Matenov, Asians of Russia

Petr Mironenko, The Bell

Olga Mutovina, People of Baikal

Viktor Muchnik, Ochevidcy, NeMoskva

Zhanna Nemtsova, Nemtsov Foundation

Elizaveta Osetinskaya, The Bell

Arkady Ostrovsky, journalist

Ivan Pavlov, lawyer

Sergey Parkhomenko, journalist

Anna Piotrovskaya, Zimin Foundation

Alexander Plushev, journalist

Kirill Rogov, Re:Russia

Rita Roitman, journalist

Ivan Rublev, It’s My City

Petr Ruzavin, journalist

Irina Samokhina, NeMoskva

Yuri Safronov, journalist

Alexey Sidorenko, Teplitsa

Sabina Sile, Media Hub Riga

Egor Skovoroda, Mediazona

Sergey Smirnov, Mediazona

Zhenya Snezhkina, journalist

Lyubov Sobol, politician

Andrey Soldatov, Agentura.ru

Maxim Solyus, editor

Lola Tagaeva, Verstka

Yulia Taratuta, journalist

Galina Timchenko, Meduza

Elena Trifonova, People of Baikal

Maxim Trudolyubov, journalist

Tatyana Felgenhauer, journalist

Mikhail Fishman, journalist

Alexander Cherkasov, Memorial

Viktor Chistyakov, Taiga.info

Olga Shorina, Nemtsov Foundation

Ilya Shumanov, Transparency International Russia