Vladimir Kara-Murza, a longtime target of Russian authorities, survived two poisoning attempts by officials in 2015 and 2017 after his criticism of the Putin regime.
Kara-Murza, a lawful United States resident of Virginia’s District 10, was detained in April 2022 after a charge of treason, spreading false information about the Russian military and working with an “undesirable” civil society organization. Kara-Murza had given a speech to the Arizona House of Representatives where he expressed his opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He was sentenced in April 2023 to serve 25 years in a Russian penal colony.
Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton and Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia are urging President Joe Biden to designate Kara-Murza as an “unlawfully or wrongfully detained” U.S. national under U.S. federal law.
Kara-Murza was missing for several weeks last month before it was revealed he is being held in solitary confinement at a maximum-security prison in Siberia. Wexton and Kaine urged Biden to order the State Department to work with the Russian government and ensure he is freed from unjust detention.
“Vladimir has risked his life to fight for the highest ideals of our country and our Commonwealth — for democracy, the respect for human rights and the rule of law, justice and accountability, and the triumph of freedom over tyranny. His life’s work dedicated to this last value — reflected in our own state motto, Sic semper tyrannis — makes us immensely proud to call Vladimir our constituent and to stand with him at this dangerous time while he faces the wrath of a murderous tyrant. We urge you to support his designation and ensure our constituent knows that we share in his hope that he will return to his wife, his children and his home as a free man,” Wexton and Kaine wrote.
Prior to his sentence, Kara-Murza endured a yearlong struggle with brutal conditions in his pretrial detention, during which he lost 40 pounds and lost his ability to feel in his extremities. According to his lawyers and family, his medical condition is a product of his polyneuropathy, a nerve condition that he suffers from as a result of the Russian government’s previous attempts to poison him and that was exacerbated by the denial of adequate medical care and treatment at the time of poisoning.
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Rebecca Barnabi
