Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza sentenced to 25 years in prison
Al JazeeraKara-Murza, who has denounced Russia’s war in Ukraine, jailed for treason and denigrating the army. A Russian court on Monday sentenced Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison for treason and denigrating the military, the harshest sentence of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine. Kara-Murza, 41, a father of three and an opposition politician who holds Russian and British passports, spent years speaking out against President Vladimir Putin and lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations. Fierce Kremlin critic In a CNN interview broadcast hours before he was arrested, Kara-Murza had alleged that Russia was being run by a “regime of murderers.” He had also used speeches in the United States and across Europe to accuse Moscow of bombing civilian targets in Ukraine, a charge it has rejected. At a time of what they have cast as an existential struggle with the West, pro-government politicians say unity across society is vital and have described Russian citizens questioning Moscow’s actions in Ukraine as part of a pro-Western fifth column trying to undermine the military campaign.