He is the latest example of the repression of Kremlin critics. The trial of Russian opponent Vladimir Kara-Murza opened Monday behind closed doors at the Moscow City Court. Tried for treason, he faces up to twenty years in prison. Vladimir Kara-Murza, 41, was arrested last April after publicly denouncing the conflict in Ukraine.

He is accused of treason for criticizing Russian authorities in public interventions abroad, his lawyer told Russia's state news agency Tass. "A true patriot of Russia, he is accused of high treason for his tireless fight for a Russia without Putin," his wife, Yevgenia, wrote on Twitter. "I am always a heartbeat away from you my love, and I will continue to fight for and with you for as long as it takes," she added.

Three cases

The opponent, who has been in pre-trial detention since April 2022, is also the subject of separate criminal proceedings, also punishable by heavy prison sentences for having, according to the prosecution, disseminated "false information" about the Russian army and participated in the activities of organizations deemed "undesirable". Vladimir Kara-Murza is a long-time opponent of Vladimir Putin. He almost died after being, according to him, poisoned twice, in 2015 and 2017, assassination attempts that he attributes to the Russian regime.

The case against him for spreading "false information" about the military was opened after he spoke in March 2022 to US lawmakers from Arizona, during which he criticized the Russian offensive in Ukraine. Then, in August 2022, he was accused of working with an "undesirable organization," also punishable by prison, for organizing a conference in support of political prisoners in Russia. Finally, in October, the authorities opened a third case against him for "treason", the most serious of the charges.

"Foreign Agent"

Vladimir Kara-Murza is also classified as a "foreign agent", a status reminiscent of that of the "enemies of the people" used in Soviet times to denounce and isolate dissidents. Russian by birth, he also has British citizenship, having moved to the UK with his mother at the age of 15.



As an adult, he became close to the Russian opposition, in particular Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead a stone's throw from the Kremlin in 2015, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a wealthy businessman who spent a decade in prison for his opposition to Vladimir Putin.

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