Longtime Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza has been found guilty of treason and sentenced to 25 years in prison after what the journalist and activist has dismissed as a 1930s-style “show trial”.
The 41-year-old, who holds Russian and British passports, was originally detained in April 2022 and charged with criticising the Russian army. But the charge list was subsequently expanded to include treason and working for an undesirable organisation.
Kara-Murza has for years been a consistent opponent of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. He has also been involved in anti-regime parties and think tanks including the Institute of Modern Russia and the Open Russia Foundation. He was a key proponent of the Magnitsky Act, which enabled the US government to freeze the foreign assets of Russian elites.
