Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr.
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Vladimir Vladimirovich Kara-Murza (russian: Владимир Владимирович Кара-Мурза; born 7 September 1981) is a Russian political activist, journalist, author, and filmmaker. A protégé of Boris Nemtsov, he serves as vice-chairman of
Open Russia Open Russia (russian: Открытая Россия; ''Otkrytaya Rossiya'') is a political organisation founded by the exiled Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky with the shareholders of his firm, Yukos (a company closed in 2006). Khodorkovsky s ...
, an NGO founded by Russian businessman and former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which promotes civil society and democracy in Russia. He was elected to the Coordinating Council of the Russian Opposition in 2012, and served as deputy leader of the
People's Freedom Party People's Freedom Party may mean one of the following: * People's Freedom Party (Russia) The People's Freedom Party (russian: Партия народной свободы, Partiya narodnoy svobody) or shortly PARNAS (russian: ПАРНАС), formerl ...
from 2015 to 2016. He has directed two documentaries, ''
They Chose Freedom ''They Chose Freedom'' (russian: Они выбирали свободу, Oni vybirali svobodu) is a four-part TV documentary on the history of political dissent in the USSR from the 1950s to the 1990s. It was produced in 2005 by Vladimir V. Kara- ...
'' and '' Nemtsov''. As of 2021, he acts as Senior Fellow to the
Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights The Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (RWCHR) is a Montreal-based non-governmental organization dedicated to pursuing justice through the protection and promotion of human rights. The RWCHR's name and mission is inspired by Raoul Wallenbe ...
. He was awarded the
Civil Courage Prize The Civil Courage Prize is a human rights award which recognizes "steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk—rather than military valor." The prize was founded in 2000 by the Northcote Parkinson Fund. The goal of the prize is not to cr ...
in 2018. In April 2022, Kara-Murza was arrested on charges of disobeying police orders; later his arrest was extended after new charges of "discrediting" the military were introduced, and in October, new charges of treason were reportedly introduced against him. In October 2022, Kara-Murza was awarded the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize.


Early life and education

Vladimir Vladimirovich Kara-Murza was born in Moscow on 7 September 1981. He is the son of Russian journalist and television host Vladimir Alexeyevich Kara-Murza (1959–2019), an outspoken critic of
Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...
and a supporter of reforms under
Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
. His father was a great-grandson of Latvian revolutionary Voldemārs Bisenieks (1884–1938), and great-grand-nephew of Latvia's first Ambassador to Great Britain, Georgs Bisenieks (1885–1941; lv), both of whom were shot by the
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...
. The Latvian agronomist and publisher Jānis Bisenieks (1864–1923; lv) was their older brother. He is also related to Sergey Kara-Murza (born 1939), a Soviet/Russian historian, chemist and philosopher. They are members of the Kara-Murza family, descendants of a Tatar aristocrat who settled in Moscow and converted to Christianity in the 15th century AD. (The name in translation means "Black Lord".) Kara-Murza earned a BA and an MA degree in history at
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
. With his wife, Yevgenia, he has three children.


Work as a journalist, film-maker and author

Kara-Murza became a journalist at the age of 16. He worked as London correspondent for a succession of Russian media outlets: the newspapers ''
Novye Izvestia ''Novye Izvestia'' (russian: Новые Известия) is an daily newspaper, published in Moscow, Russia. History It was founded in 1997 by a group of journalists who left ''Izvestia'' newspaper, with the financial backing of Boris Berezovsk ...
'' (1997–2000) and ''
Kommersant ''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...
'' (September 2000 to June 2003) and the radio station ''
Ekho Moskvy Echo of Moscow (russian: links=no, Эхо Москвы, translit=Ekho Moskvy) was a 24/7 commercial Russian radio station based in Moscow. It broadcast in many Russian cities, some of the former Soviet republics (through partnerships with local ra ...
'' from September 2001 to June 2003. Kara-Murza then briefly became foreign affairs correspondent of ''Kommersant'' (July 2003 to April 2004) and Washington correspondent for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
(December 2004 to December 2005). In 2002, he was editor-in-chief of the London-based financial publication ''Russian Investment Review''. In April 2004 he took over as the
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
bureau chief of the RTVi television network, a post he held for the next nine years. On 1 September 2012 he was dismissed from this job.


''They Chose Freedom'', a documentary series (2005)

In 2005, Kara-Murza produced a four-part TV documentary, ''
They Chose Freedom ''They Chose Freedom'' (russian: Они выбирали свободу, Oni vybirali svobodu) is a four-part TV documentary on the history of political dissent in the USSR from the 1950s to the 1990s. It was produced in 2005 by Vladimir V. Kara- ...
'', dedicated to the history of the Soviet dissident movement. The documentary was based on interviews with Russian dissidents, including
Vladimir Bukovsky Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky (russian: link=no, Влади́мир Константи́нович Буко́вский; 30 December 1942 – 27 October 2019) was a Russian-born British human rights activist and writer. From the late 195 ...
,
Elena Bonner Yelena Georgiyevna Bonner (russian: link=no, Елена Георгиевна Боннэр; 15 February 1923 – 18 June 2011) ...
and
Sergei Kovalev Sergei Adamovich Kovalyov (also spelled Sergey Kovalev; russian: link=no, Сергей Адамович Ковалёв; 2 March 1930 – 9 August 2021) was a Russian human rights activist and politician. During the Soviet period he was a diss ...
. It was first aired in October 2005. It has since been screened at various locations in Europe and North America, with subtitles added in English. On 24 March 2014, Kara-Murza,
Anne Applebaum Anne Elizabeth Applebaum (born July 25, 1964) is an American journalist and historian. She has written extensively about the history of Communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. She has worked at ''The Econ ...
, and Vladimir Bukovsky took part in a discussion following a London screening of the film.


''Reform or Revolution'' (published 2011)

In 2011, Kara-Murza published his first book, ''Reform or Revolution: The Quest for Responsible Government in the First Russian State Duma'' (in Russian only), which recounts the unsuccessful attempt by the Cadets or
Constitutional Democratic Party The Constitutional Democratic Party (russian: Конституцио́нно-демократи́ческая па́ртия, translit=Konstitutsionno-demokraticheskaya partiya, K-D), also called Constitutional Democrats and formally the Party of P ...
to form a government during the brief existence of the first Russian Parliament or Duma from April to July 1906. Based on the original 1906 parliamentary record and contemporary newspaper reports, as well as memoirs by participants of the events, the book was launched in both Moscow and
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.


"Spotlight on Russia" blog (since 2010)

Since 2010 Kara-Murza has written a weekly blog, "Spotlight on Russia", for ''World Affairs'' Journal. In late 2014 and early 2015, he wrote about a number of anti democratic trends in Russia. President
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, for example, had resumed the Soviet practice of stripping dissidents of their Russian citizenship. As a result of this and other acts, Kara-Murza urged the Council of Europe not to restore Russia's voting rights, suspended since the annexation of Crimea. Kremlin SWAT teams, he wrote in December 2014, were breaking up opposition meetings. Putin's word was therefore "void of value", wrote Kara-Murza, citing as evidence the false statements made by the Russian President and his broken promises.


"The End of Russia's Olympic Truce" (2014)

Putin had soft-pedaled his response to the opposition during the Sochi Olympics, warned Kara-Murza in an op-ed for ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' (26 February 2014). Now that the prestigious international event was ended the Russian president was rapidly returning to his former oppressive behaviour. Only hours after the closing ceremony in Sochi a Moscow court handed prison sentences to seven of the May 2012 Bolotnaya Square protestors. Pressure was brought to bear not only within Russia. Russia's nationwide TV had been broadcasting "hate-filled appeals to crush the protesters in Kiev" for several weeks early in 2014, noted Kara-Murza. For Putin, he explained, "maintaining the status quo in Ukraine was not primarily about preserving a post-Soviet sphere of influence or recreating a Moscow-led empire". The Russian president feared that "a democratic, pro-European Ukraine" would set "a 'dangerous' precedent for Russia" and that it would be "only a matter of time" before Russian citizens began to demand similar levels of political and economic freedom.


In the public eye

From 1999 to 2001, Kara-Murza was a member of the
Democratic Choice of Russia The Democratic Choice of Russia (DVR; russian: Демократический выбор России; ДВР; ''Demokraticheskiy vybor Rossii'', ''DVR''), before 1994 Choice of Russia Bloc (VR; russian: Блок «Выбор России»; В ...
party; from 2001 to 2008 he was a member of the
Union of Right Forces )"Liberty, Property, Legality"(russian: "Свобода, Собственность, Законность") , headquarters = Moscow , newspaper = Just Cause , membership_year = 2007 , membership = 57,410 , ideology ...
. Between 2000 and 2003 he served as an advisor to State Duma opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. He has been in opposition to Vladimir Putin since 2000, backing liberal candidate
Grigory Yavlinsky Grigory Alekseyevich Yavlinsky ( Russian: Григо́рий Алексе́евич Явли́нский; born 10 April 1952) is a Russian economist and politician. He authored the 500 Days Program, a plan for the transition of the Soviet regim ...
in the 2000 presidential election.


Stands for election to the State Duma (2003)

Kara-Murza was a candidate for election to the Russian parliament, or State Duma, in the 2003 parliamentary election, running in Moscow's Chertanovsky district. His candidacy was endorsed jointly by the Union of Right Forces and
Yabloko The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko (RUDP Yabloko) (russian: Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко», Rossíyskaya obyedinyónnaya demokratícheskaya pártiya "Y ...
. During the campaign, various underhanded methods were used against Kara-Murza. The candidate from the
United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Russian conservative political party. As the largest party in Russia, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma , havin ...
ruling party Vladimir Gruzdev attempted to have him removed from the ballot; the lighting on Kara-Murza's campaign billboards and the sound during his televised debates were turned off; and unlawful
carousel voting Carousel voting (in Russian ''карусель'' (''karusel'', ''"carousel"'')) is a method of vote rigging in elections, used particularly in Russia and Georgia, and alluding to fairground carousels. Usually it involves "busloads of voters eingdr ...
was discovered on election day. British journalist Andrew Jack named the Chertanovsky district in south Moscow as a case of electoral manipulation in Russia's 2003 vote in his book ''Inside Putin's Russia''. According to the official results, Gruzdev received 149,069 votes (53.8%); Kara-Murza, 23,800 votes (8.6%); and
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
candidate Sergei Seregin, 18,992 votes (6.9%).


Bukovsky for president, 2007–2008

In January 2004, he co-founded the Committee 2008, an umbrella opposition group led by Boris Nemtsov and
Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
. In May 2007, Kara-Murza nominated the veteran human rights activist and writer
Vladimir Bukovsky Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukovsky (russian: link=no, Влади́мир Константи́нович Буко́вский; 30 December 1942 – 27 October 2019) was a Russian-born British human rights activist and writer. From the late 195 ...
as a democratic opposition candidate for the Russian presidency in the 2008 election. "The opposition needs a candidate for president – strong, uncompromising, decisive, with irreproachable political and, more importantly, moral authority," read the statement written by Kara-Murza on behalf of Bukovsky's campaign committee. "Russia needs its own Vaclav Havel, not a new successor from he KGB"."Action Group announces proposal of Vladimir Bukovsky as a presidential candidate in 2008" (Заявление Инициативной группы по выдвижению В. К. Буковского кандидатом в президенты РФ)
Kasparov.ru, 28 May 2007, accessed 23 October 2021
From May to December 2007, Kara-Murza chaired Bukovsky's campaign committee, which included, among others, Academician Yuri Ryzhov, writer and satirist Victor Shenderovich, columnist
Andrei Piontkovsky Andrey Andreyevich Piontkovsky (russian: Андре́й Андре́евич Пионтко́вский, born June 30, 1940, Moscow) is a Russian scientist and political writer and analyst, a member of International PEN Club. He is a former mem ...
, lawyer
Yuri Schmidt Yuri Markovich Schmidt (russian: Ю́рий Ма́ркович Шмидт; 10 May 1937 – 12 January 2013) was a Russian human rights lawyer known for defending dissidents since the 1970s. Schmidt was born in Leningrad. He was a member of t ...
, human rights activist
Alexander Podrabinek Alexander Pinkhosovich Podrabinek (russian: Алекса́ндр Пи́нхосович Подраби́нек; born 8 August 1953, Elektrostal) is a Soviet dissident, journalist and commentator. During the Soviet period he was a human rights ac ...
, and political analyst
Vladimir Pribylovsky Vladimir Valerianovich Pribylovsky (russian: Влади́мир Валериа́нович Прибыло́вский, 6 March 195613 January 2016) was a Soviet and Russian political scientist, historian, journalist, human rights activist, and a ...
. In October 2007, Kara-Murza was one of organisers of the "Rally of Free People" held on Moscow's Triumfalnaya Square in support of Bukovsky's presidential nomination. On 16 December 2007 Bukovsky was duly nominated as a presidential candidate by 823 members of a voters' assembly in Moscow (the law required at least 500 people to support such a nomination). At the same meeting, Kara-Murza was elected as Bukovsky's plenipotentiary representative to Russia's Central Electoral Commission. On 22 December 2007 the Commission refusing to register Bukovsky as a candidate for the presidency, thereby denying Bukovsky access to the ballot.


Russia's "extra-systemic" opposition

At the founding convention of Solidarnost, Russia's united democratic movement, in December 2008, Kara-Murza was elected to the movement's federal council, placing second out of 77 candidates, behind Nemtsov. He was re-elected to the Solidarnost council in 2010 and 2013. In 2012, he took part in the street protests in Moscow against Putin's rule, the largest pro-democracy demonstrations in Russia since 1991. In June 2012, Kara-Murza was elected to the federal council of the Republican Party of Russia – People's Freedom Party, co-chaired by Boris Nemtsov,
Mikhail Kasyanov Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov ( rus, link=no, Михаи́л Миха́йлович Касья́нов, , mʲɪxɐˈil mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ kɐˈsʲjanəf; born 8 December 1957) is a Russian politician who served as Prime Minister of Russia fr ...
, and
Vladimir Ryzhkov Vladimir Aleksandrovich Ryzhkov (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Рыжко́в; born 3 September 1966 in Rubtsovsk) is a Russian historian and liberal politician, a former co-chair of People's Freedom Party (2006 ...
. In October 2012, he was elected to the Coordinating Council of the Russian Opposition, placing 21st out of 169 candidates and receiving 20,845 votes.


Institute of Modern Russia, 2012

Soon after, on 1 November 2012, Kara-Murza was hired by the Institute of Modern Russia as the organisation's senior policy advisor. "It is an honor for me to join this distinguished institute and contribute to its mission of keeping the spotlight on the situation in Russia and advocating for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law", said Kara-Murza, "These values should remain at the forefront of international relations." In this capacity he took part in panel discussions about Russia's future at the
Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the preside ...
in February 2013 and in October 2013, with Pavel Khodorkovsky (son of the former entrepreneur and philanthropist Mikhail Khodorkovsky) and others, in a similar discussion hosted by the National Endowment for Democracy.


Open Russia

Kara-Murza is a coordinator of the
Open Russia Open Russia (russian: Открытая Россия; ''Otkrytaya Rossiya'') is a political organisation founded by the exiled Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky with the shareholders of his firm, Yukos (a company closed in 2006). Khodorkovsky s ...
Foundation, founded by Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The organisation was created with the goal of promoting civil society and democracy in Russia, while revoking Putin's grip on power. Launched in 2014, Open Russia has been instrumental in educating Russian citizens on western democracy, whilst bringing opposition groups and activists in contact with support from the west. Kara-Murza is deputy chairman and heads Open elections project designed to promote free and fair elections in Russia; a task he has noted is exceedingly difficult given the government's ability to silence opposition and manipulate elections. He also frequently addresses international stages to promote further cooperation and discussion among nations.


Funeral pallbearer for John McCain

In April 2018, United States Senator John McCain sent Kara-Murza a message revealing that McCain had been diagnosed with brain cancer and requesting that Kara-Murza, who had worked with McCain on issues relating to Russia since 2010, serve as a pallbearer at the senator's eventual funeral. Kara-Murza later said that he was "speechless", "heartbroken", and "close to tears", and that doing so would be "the most heartbreaking honor that anyone could think of". McCain died on 25 August; Kara-Murza joined fourteen others chosen by McCain himself, including the then former Vice President Joe Biden and actor
Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, ...
, as a pallbearer at McCain's funeral at the
Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...
on 1 September. McCain's choice of Kara-Murza was described by ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' as a "final dig" at Putin, of whom McCain was a vocal critic, and at U.S. President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, for his apparent closeness to the Russian president.


Magnitsky Act

As a journalist and public figure, who was fluent in English and based partly in the US, Kara-Murza played a notable part in the events that led, in 2012, to the passing of the "
Magnitsky Act The Magnitsky Act, formally known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson–Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, is a bipartisan bill passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in D ...
" by the US Congress. In July 2012, Kara-Murza reported that he had been denied access a few days earlier to the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C. This decision was taken on the orders of the ambassador himself, on the grounds that Kara-Murza was "no longer a journalist". Yet it was not until 1 September that Kara-Murza's dismissal as Washington bureau chief of RTVi was made public. According to several sources he was now on a "blacklist" and could not be employed as a journalist by any Russian media outlets. The reason for this ban was his advocacy of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, then being considered by the US Congress. The draft law was named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Moscow lawyer who uncovered a massive tax-fraud scheme involving several law-enforcement officials and who died in custody of those same officials in 2009 after being tortured and denied medical care. Its purpose was to prevent the issuing of U.S. visas to persons "responsible for the detention, abuse, or death of Sergei Magnitsky", (and for "extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights" in Russia) and to freeze access to any U.S.-based assets those persons might hold. The law also extended to cover Russian officials involved in broader acts of corruption and in violations of basic civil liberties. Kara-Murza explained his support for the law by saying that "The prospect of losing access to the West and its financial systems...may well be, for now, the only serious disincentive to corruption and human rights violations by Russian officials." Writing in ''
The National Interest ''The National Interest'' (''TNI'') is an American bimonthly international relations magazine edited by American journalist Jacob Heilbrunn and published by the Center for the National Interest, a public policy think tank based in Washington, ...
'' Mark Adomanis warned that the Magnitsky law came with a cost. It had "potential downsides," and was worsening "Russia's already precarious human-rights situation", driving "some of the ever-dwindling number of effective opposition journalists" from the country. In particular he cited the firing of Kara-Murza, although the journalist's employers described his dismissal as part of "a long-planned reorganization". Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, reported Adomanis, "suggested the decision to fire Kara-Murza may have come from an extremely high-ranking official: Alexei Gromov, the deputy head of the presidential administration." An article in July by Peter Baker of ''The New York Times'' was devoted largely to the arguments of the law's critics. He did quote Kara-Murza's comment that the bill would hit corrupt officials and human-rights violators "where it hurts, closing access to their ill-gotten gains in the West." On 25 July 2012, Kara-Murza testified before the
Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (formerly known as the Congressional Human Rights Caucus) is a bipartisan caucus of the United States House of Representatives. Its stated mission is "to promote, defend and advocate internationally recogniz ...
of the U.S. Congress about human-rights abuses in Russia and described the proposed Magnitsky Law as "a pro-Russian bill which provides a much-needed measure of accountability for those who continue to violate the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens." He added: "The Kremlin's reaction to this legislation shows that it hits them precisely where it hurts. I want to take this opportunity to thank Co-Chairmen McGovern and Wolf for their leadership on this issue. I hope the Magnitsky Act is signed into law before the end of this year." In a December 2012 article co-written with Nemtsov, Kara-Murza reiterated his support for the Magnitsky Act which he and Nemtsov called "a pro-Russian law that strikes at the heart of the Kremlin's mafia-like system", adding that "Russian opposition and civil society leaders and cultural figures, as well as a plurality of Russian citizens, are in favour of the Magnitsky law." On 12 December 2012, the Magnitsky Act became United States law.


Appeals for Canada and the EU to follow suit

Kara-Murza and Nemtsov called on Canada to pass a similar piece of legislation, then under consideration by the International Human Rights Subcommittee of the Canadian parliament's House of Commons. Writing for ''
Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...
'' in December 2012, Michael Petrou reported Kara-Murza's visit to Ottawa to urge the passage of the proposed Canadian version of the Magnitsky law, a private member's bill introduced by Liberal MP
Irwin Cotler Irwin Cotler, PC, OC, OQ (born May 8, 1940) is a retired Canadian politician who was Member of Parliament for Mount Royal from 1999 to 2015. He served as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2003 until the Liberal gov ...
: while it was the task of Russian opposition leaders, not foreigners, "to bring democratic change to Russia," Kara-Murza said, Western democracies could still help the cause of Russian democracy through legislation. Those in Russia who had abused and tormented Magnitsky "rule in the style of
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
or
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
," wrote Petrou, paraphrasing Kara-Murza, "but prefer the West as a safe place to store their money, buy second homes, and send their children to school. And it is in the West where they are most vulnerable." In June 2013, in an interview with France 24 television, Kara-Murza discussed the proposed version of the Magnitsky law then being debated in the European Parliament. He spoke in favour of such laws, and noted that the list of persons covered by the U.S. law was being expanded. He distinguished between those in the European Parliament who were "friends of Russia" and those who were "friends of Putin". In March 2014, noting that the average Russian opposes intervention in Ukraine by the government of
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, Kara-Murza stated that the world "should respond to Putin's aggression" by imposing sanctions against its perpetrators. He called for the list of Russian human-rights abusers who were already banned, under the Sergei Magnitsky Act, from travelling to the United States and keeping assets there to "be dramatically expanded to include senior Kremlin officials responsible for the attack on Ukraine and the crackdown against Russian citizens." He also expressed the hope that "the European Union would soon follow with its own version of the Magnitsky sanctions." "Those who commit acts of aggression and abuse the rights of their own citizens should not be entitled to the privileges and comfort of the democratic West," he said.


List of state-employed journalists

On 27 February 2015, opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was assassinated by four shots from behind while he was sitting on a bridge near
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...
in Moscow. According to
Bill Browder William Felix Browder (born April 23, 1964) is an American-born British financier and political activist. He is the CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management, the investment advisor to the Hermitage Fund, which at one time was the lar ...
, Kara-Murza is a protégé of Nemtsov. In late April 2015, Kara-Murza and
Mikhail Kasyanov Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov ( rus, link=no, Михаи́л Миха́йлович Касья́нов, , mʲɪxɐˈil mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ kɐˈsʲjanəf; born 8 December 1957) is a Russian politician who served as Prime Minister of Russia fr ...
presented a list of eight names to members of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the US Congress. These were the TV presenters and other state-employed journalists and commentators who, Kara-Murza and Kasyanov alleged, had created an atmosphere of "hatred, intolerance and violence" around the figure of Nemtsov in the months leading up to his murder one hundred yards from the Kremlin. Specifically, the named individuals had stated on nationwide television that Nemtsov was a traitor, an enemy of Russia, part of a " fifth column" within the country, and that he would have welcomed the invading German forces outside Moscow in 1941. Kara-Murza explained the appeal to U.S. legislators by saying that Russia's law-enforcement agencies, unfortunately, had declined to investigate these recorded and documented statements although incitement to harm an individual was also a crime according to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. These eight names, Kara-Murza hoped, would now be added to those already on the Magnitsky List. The eight names were listed in the ''
Kommersant ''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...
'' daily newspaper. On 18 May 2015, the daily newspaper '' Komsomolskaya Pravda'' reported that
Yevgeny Alexeyevich Fyodorov Yevgeny Alexeyevich Fedorov or Fyodorov (russian: Евгений Алексеевич Фёдоров; born May 11, 1963) is a Russian nationalist, politician, deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia four convocations (1993–96 ...
, a State Duma deputy for
United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Russian conservative political party. As the largest party in Russia, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma , havin ...
, had requested the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation to assess whether Kasyanov and Kara-Murza had not committed an act of treason, under Article 275 of the RF Criminal Code, by submitting the above list of eight names to members of the US Congress. When approached by the newspaper the Investigative Committee would not pass comment on deputy Fyodorov's statement.


Poisonings


2015

On 26 May 2015, Kara-Murza was suddenly taken ill in Moscow during a meeting. He had eaten lunch at a restaurant and then had a two-hour meeting, during which he consumed nothing and felt normal, before becoming ill over a ten to fifteen minute period, leading to vomiting. At first he was thought to be having heart difficulties, but treatment at a specialised cardiac clinic did nothing to arrest the symptoms. Kara-Murza was then taken to hospital in Moscow. Initial symptoms indicated that he could have been poisoned, according to doctors, and he was later diagnosed with kidney failure. Coming after the murder of his colleague Boris Nemtsov on 27 February 2015, and mindful of other cases of poisoning, both in Russia (journalist and Duma deputy Yuri Shchekochikhin in 2003, the attempted murder of
Anna Politkovskaya Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya (;, ; uk, Ганна Степанівна Політковська , 30 August 1958 – 7 October 2006) was a Russian journalist and human rights activist, who reported on political events in Russia, in partic ...
in 2004) and abroad (
Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Valterovich "Sasha" Litvinenko (30 August 1962 ( at WebCite) or 4 December 1962 – 23 November 2006) was a British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) who specialised ...
in October 2006) there was great concern on the part of friends and family. His wife Yevgenia urged that he be evacuated from Russia for examination and treatment abroad. On 2 June, it was announced by a spokesman for the Republican Party of Russia – People's Freedom Party that Kara-Murza had emerged from his coma and recognised his wife, who was now by his bedside. The cause of his sudden illness remained a mystery, but in an interview with the BBC his father commented, "if someone did want to frighten us, then they succeeded." There has never been any conclusive evidence that Kara-Murza has ever been intentionally poisoned. After his release from the hospital, Kara-Murza stated that it was difficult to "believe this was an accident", suspecting it was an intentional poisoning, but noted there was no way to be certain. On 15 August 2015, Mikhail Khodorkovsky commented with delight that Kara-Murza had returned to work co-ordinating the Open Elections project. Kara-Murza is working to provide free and fair elections for the Duma.


2017

On 2 February 2017, Kara-Murza was again hospitalised after the onset of the same symptoms as his prior illness. He was put in a medically-induced coma and was on life support. He was treated at the same hospital by the same medical team who had already saved his life in 2015. According to his lawyer Vadim Prokhorov, Kara-Murza was diagnosed by the hospital with 'toxic influence of an unknown substance'. He was released on 19 February and went abroad for rehabilitation. His lawyer sent the Russian Investigative Committee a request to open a criminal case into the alleged poisoning. A similar request after the 2015 incident had been turned down without an explanation. His blood samples were provided to a number of laboratories including one affiliated to the FBI. But for unclear reasons, the FBI subsequently have not revealed details of their investigations into the substance that triggered Kara-Murza's illness, with one US Senator suggesting that it might be "classified". Two other labs—in France and Israel—have also conducted tests, but they were inconclusive. In February 2021, a
Bellingcat Bellingcat (stylised as bellngcat) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in July 20 ...
joint investigation with ''The Insider'' and '' Der Spiegel'' said that Kara-Murza had been followed by the same FSB unit that allegedly poisoned
Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolievich Navalny ( rus, links=no, Алексей Анатольевич Навальный, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈvalʲnɨj; born 4 June 1976) is a Russian opposition leader, lawyer, and anti-corruption act ...
before he fell ill in 2015 and 2017.


Arrest

His longtime lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov, said Kara-Murza had been arrested on Monday 11 April 2022 on charges of disobeying police orders, and faced up to 15 days in jail or a small fine. It was not immediately clear if Kara-Murza’s arrest was linked to his opposition to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. On 22 April 2022, Kara-Murza was charged by a Russian court for spreading of “false” information about the Russian military. The reason for the criminal case against Kara-Murza was his March 15 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives, in which he denounced the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
. In July, new charges of cooperating with an "undesirable" foreign NGO were introduced, in which he faced up to six years in prison. In October, Prokhorov said that Kara-Murza faced new charges of treason, in which he faced up to 20 years in prison. In October 2022, Kara-Murza was awarded Václav Havel Human Rights Prize.


References


Works

;Books * ;Articles * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Russian authorities just arrested an entire conference hall full of people. I was one of them.
// ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', 18 March 2021


External links


Results of the Russian parliamentary elections, 7 December 2003
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070927092108/http://sps.ru/?id=219197 "Film on Soviet Dissidents Presented at Harvard University", SPS.ru, 7 March 2006br>"Vladimir Bukovsky Will Run for President of Russia in 2008", ''Prima-News Agency'', 28 May 2007
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kara-Murza, Vladimir 1981 births Living people Russian people of Latvian descent Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge People educated at The John Lyon School Solidarnost politicians 21st-century Russian politicians Union of Right Forces politicians Yabloko politicians People's Freedom Party politicians 2011–2013 Russian protests 21st-century Russian historians Russian people of Tatar descent Russian activists against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine People listed in Russia as foreign agents