Influential lawmakers from both parties, including Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Roger Wicker and Democratic Senators Ben Cardin and Dick Durbin, co-wrote a letter to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Thursday, April 20, calling on the Russian politician to opposition Vladimir Kara to be given -Murze, sentenced this week in Russia to 25 years, the status of “unlawfully and wrongfully detained” under US law.
Members of the House of Representatives and Senate are also calling on the US government to use all available resources to rescue Kara-Murza, one of the co-founders of the Russian Anti-War Committee, from a Russian prison. According to the letter’s authors, given the state of health of Vladimir Kara-Murza, who survived two poisonings in Russia in 2015 and 2017, and reports of a deterioration in the man’s health policy in recent months, “there is a high probability that he will die soon if he is not released.
“His only crime is to use his voice to fight Putin’s evil,” summarizes the group of Democrats and Republicans in its letter. “It is in the national security interest of the United States to save his life and release him from Russian captivity.”
The authors of the appeal to the head of the State Department specify that Kara-Murza, a Russian citizen and Russian dissident, is also a “lawful permanent resident of the United States” – this is the traditional status of green card holders in the United States – United.
Bill Browder, director of the Hermitage Capital investment fund, a former initiator of the global campaign for the passage of the Magnitsky law, in which Vladimir Kara-Murza actively participated, expressed confidence in an interview with American media that Such a measure would be taken against Kara-Murza is perhaps a priority for those close to the political opposition in the West.
“I see absolute unanimity among members of Congress for Vladimir to be recognized as ‘wrongfully detained.’ law, as written, states that it can be either a U.S. citizen or someone who has the legal right to reside in the country.Right now, our top priority to Washington is to ensure that the resources of the U.S. government are focused on protecting him, rescuing him, and getting him out of prison,” Browder says.
The day before, Bill Browder, who lives in London, was attending an event at the US Congress, which was originally scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of Vladimir Kara-Murza’s arrest in Moscow – April 11, 2022. However, the event has took place on April 19, 2 days after the Moscow City Court sentenced the politician to 25 years in a strict regime colony.
Lawmakers from both parties who spoke at the event on Capitol Hill in the U.S. capital highlighted Kara-Murza’s contribution to the passage of the Magnitsky Act in the United States and around the world, as well as his fight constant for democratic change in Russia.
Senator Roger Wicker
“The overreaction of Vladimir Putin and his henchmen, which resulted in such a verdict, speaks eloquently of the power of Mr. Kara-Murza’s voice and the force of his declarations that Russia deserves the freedom and respect for human rights,” admitted the senator in an interview with American media Republican Roger Wicker. “And it’s very important that members of Congress, the elected representatives of the people, ask the US State Department to take the Kara-Murza case to the highest level.”
Senator Ben Cardin
Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, co-chair of the US Helsinki Commission, agrees with Wicker: “It’s an outrageous phrase. He simply spoke the truth, convinced that Russia should be free, did not agree with government policy, but did so peacefully. And for this he was arrested and sent to prison for 25 years in violation of all international standards. At the same time, the judge (Podoprigorov) is under sanctions under the Magnitsky law. It’s outrageous, but typical of Putin’s regime. We will look at all available options to ensure that those responsible for this are punished, but we must also do everything in our power to get Mr. Kara-Murza out of prison and reunite him with his family.
Organizers of the Capitol event included the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the McCain Institute, founded in Washington in 2012 and named after former U.S. presidential candidate Republican Senator John McCain, who died in 2018. year. One of his closest aides, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, in an interview with the Russian service American media, recounted how McCain, who knows Vladimir Kara-Murza well, would have reacted to such condemnation of the Russian opponent .
“I believe if John were alive today, he would be leading the effort to have Russia listed as a state sponsor of terrorism under US law. The arbitrariness against Vladimir (Kara-Murza) is a terrorist act. Putin is a terrorist. He’s a war criminal with an arrest warrant for what he did to children in Ukraine. And for the sacrifices made by Vladimir Kara-Murza to count, we need to do two things. One is to give him ‘wrongful detainee’ status under US law so that we get more tools to help him, and two, we need to go further and list Putin’s Russia as a state sponsor of the terrorism, which will make it even more toxic and even more isolated. I intend to achieve this at any cost.”
According to Lindsey Graham, Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress are united, as evidenced, among other things, by Graham’s resolution calling on the Biden administration to list Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, received 100 votes out of a possible 100 in a vote in July 2022. “That’s the maximum possible unity in the Senate,” Graham said.
Democratic Congressman Bill Keating also points out in an interview with American media that Putin’s actions, both in terms of large-scale aggression against Ukraine and persecution of his own citizens, have further rallied both American parties. .
“I think that at the institutional level we will take extremely rare measures – bicameral and bipartisan resolutions condemning the imprisonment of Vladimir (Kara-Murza) and demanding his release. We all stand together here in celebrating his activity and his dedication, his great courage in promoting ideas. His example is a lesson for all of us in the importance of being aware of the fragility of democracy and remembering that it is not easy. It is obvious that Putin is doing this because that people around him said Kara-Murza was his personal enemy. But to be the personal enemy of one of the main villains of our time means to be the savior of the world,” Keating said.
Vladimir Kara-Murza’s wife, Yevgenia, and their eldest daughter, Ekaterina, also spoke at the event in Washington, who admitted in her speech that she feared the world would forget her father and thanked the legislators and public figures gathered for their support.
Earlier this week, relatives and associates of Vladimir Kara-Murza announced the launch of the October 30 Foundation at the initiative of the opponent himself. The organization, headed by Yevgenia Kara-Murza, will provide financial support to the families of Russian political prisoners. October 30 is the Day of Remembrance for Victims of Political Repression in Russia.
In an interview with the Russian American media service on Tuesday, April 18, Evgenia Kara-Murza spoke, among other things, about how the work of the fund will be organized, and Vladimir Kara-Murza’s lawyer, Vadim Prokhorov, said stated that he had left Russia a few days before the announcement of the verdict because of the threat to initiate criminal proceedings already against him.
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