![Russia opposition activist sentenced to 25 years for criticizing Ukraine invasion](https://www.jurist.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/04/Screenshot_2023-04-17_at_7.55.06_AM_50.png)
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a prominent opposition activist in Russia, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for charges related to his criticism of the war in Ukraine, in the latest iteration of the Kremlin’s ongoing campaign to silence activists and independent media outlets critical of the invasion. The trial proceedings, which saw limited access for journalists, drew widespread condemnation. News of the sentence was released by state-run media organization Interfax, which qualified its announcement with the statement that Kara-Murza was “recognized in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent.”
Found guilty of a slew of trumped-up charges, including treason, the spreading of false information, and affiliation with a so-called “undesirable organization,” Kara-Murza’s sentence marks the longest for an opposition figure since the Ukraine conflict began.
The swiftness of the ruling and the severity of the punishment indicate the Russian government’s determination to silence critics and neutralize perceived threats to the political system. In a quote carried by one of Russia’s few remaining independent media outlets, Novaya Gazeta, Kara-Murza said ahead of the sentencing:
“I am certain that my verdict will be as bad as it can be. … This is a show trial. And the result should also be emblematic. But I also know that the verdict will have little to do with reality. Political prisoners do not serve their time under formal prison sentences but depending on the political situation. And in our country, it [ed: the political situation] has a tendency to change and change unexpectedly.”
International reactions to Kara-Murza’s sentence have been strongly negative, with foreign embassies and human rights organizations criticizing the verdict as a travesty of justice.