The UK has sanctioned five Russians who were involved in the “poisoning and arrest” of opposition politician and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza (known in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent), who was previously sentenced to 25 years in prison. This has been reported area British government.
The restrictions were introduced by Secretary of State James Cleverley. The judge Elena Lenskaya of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow, who sent Kara-Murza to the pre-trial detention center, and the investigators Andrei Zadachin and Denis Kolesnikov, who opened a criminal case against the politician, came under sanctions.
In addition, London sanctioned FSB officers Alexander Samofal and Konstantin Kudryavtsev. The British Foreign Office claims that Samofal and Kudryavtsev were “members of the operational group that repeatedly followed Kara-Murza” after Boris Nemtsov’s death in 2015 and before he was poisoned, as well as in 2017.
Stressing that London will continue to support the opposition, Foreign Minister James Cleverley said, “Russia’s treatment and guilty verdict of Vladimir Kara-Murza shows once again a complete disregard for basic human rights.” Reminding that Kara-Murza has British citizenship, Kara-Murza stated that the country “will not tolerate such treatment of a citizen”.
In connection with the imposed sanctions, five Russians will lose their right to enter the UK and their assets will be frozen.
England will continue to support Kara-Murza and her family. “I call on Russia to release him immediately and unconditionally,” he said.
Commenting on the imposition of sanctions, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, said that London was, is and will be an “eternal enemy” of Moscow.
“I don’t care about their decision. England was, is and will be our eternal enemy. In any case, their impudent and disgustingly damp islands, until they fell into the abyss of the sea from the wave created by the latest Russian weapon system, ”Medvedev wrote, telegraph channel.
Two poisonings
Speaking of poisoning incidents, the British Foreign Office is referring to incidents that occurred in 2015 and 2017. On both occasions, Kara-Murza was hospitalized with severe symptoms of poisoning.
In May 2015, the politician was hospitalized with a diagnosis of acute kidney failure, his lungs, heart, kidneys and liver were denied. Doctors hooked him up to life support machines and put him in a drug-induced state of sleep. When his condition improved, he underwent rehabilitation abroad and then returned to Russia. Kara-Murza asked the French experts to conduct an examination, as a result of which it turned out that the permissible concentration of manganese (59.5 times), zinc (2.25 times), copper (1.8 times) and mercury in his body was significantly exceeded. (1.2 times).
In 2017, he was hospitalized again with symptoms of poisoning, the opposition was diagnosed with kidney problems, he was forced into a temporary artificial coma. On May 25, 2021, Kara-Murza’s lawyer reported that the Moscow Department of the Investigative Committee refused to open a criminal case for poisonings in 2015 and 2017.
Criminal case and sentence
In April 2022, Kara-Murza was detained on suspicion of spreading false news about the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine. On April 17, 2023, the Moscow City Court sentenced him to 25 years in prison, as well as a six-month restriction of freedom and a fine in the case of treason, participation in the activities of an undesirable organization and discrediting the Russian army. 400 thousand rubles. He was also banned from journalism for seven years after his release from prison.
Kara-Murza himself did not admit his guilt and stated in his last words that he was persecuted for his political views.
“I don’t want anything from this court. I know my decision. I recognized him a year ago when I saw people in black uniforms and black masks running after my car in the mirror. Now that’s the price of silence in Russia.”
After the decision, Russian Ambassador to London Andrey Kelin was summoned to the British Foreign Office. The next day, April 18, British Ambassador Deborah Bronnert was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Russian Foreign Ministry told the British diplomat that Moscow views calls for the annulment of the court decision as major interference in the state’s internal affairs. The diplomatic mission also noted that London’s references to Kara-Murza’s British citizenship are “legally invalid” in Russian law.
The ministry described British authorities’ attempts to lecture Russia on human rights issues as “absolutely unacceptable”, especially since its cynical and contemptuous stance towards London’s human rights dossier is well known.
After the announcement of the Kara-Murza decision, only London did not impose sanctions on Russian citizens. Latvia banned the entry of ten Russians involved in the politician’s case. At the same time, US and Canadian diplomats called for his release. Deputies made the same call.