Vladimir Kara-Murza, a politician of Russian and British nationality and critic of the Putin regime, was sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison. The historian was also arrested in Russia last year for disobedience to the authorities, and when he was in custody he was accused of treason.

Kara-Murza, 41, has been a scathing critic of the invasion of Ukraine, accusing the Russian government of being a “murderous regime” during an interview with CNN. He was arrested hours later. Earlier, he had accused Russia of war crimes during a speech in Arizona.

Russian prosecutors got the maximum sentence they had asked for, charging Kara-Murza with treason and discrediting the Russian military. The Russian politician has three children and lived with his family in the United States.

He was a regular contributor to the Washington Post; even when he was in prison, he texted letters. It is the North American newspaper that has a transcript of the plea presented in court by Vladimir Kara-Murza, on April 10.

“I was certain that after two decades in Russian politics, after everything that had happened, nothing could surprise me anymore. I have to admit that I was wrong, ”he said in court, regarding the trial in which he was involved. “I am in prison for my political opinions. For speaking out against the war in Ukraine. For the many years of struggle against the dictatorship of Vladimir Putin”.

“Not only do I not regret any of this, I am proud of it”, he said in court, stressing that he “subscribes to all the words I said.” On this occasion, he said that he had only one regret: that “over the years of political activity I have not been able to convince enough compatriots and politicians in democratic countries of the danger that the current Kremlin regime represents for Russia and the world.”

United Nations calls for immediate release

The decision of the Moscow court is being criticized by various voices in the international community. Volker Türk, head of the United Nations human rights department, called for the immediate release of Vladimir Kara-Murza. “No one should be deprived of their liberty for exercising their human rights and I call on the Russian authorities to release him without delay,” the UN commissioner said in a statement.

The 25-year prison sentence is “another blow to the rule of law and civic space” in Russia, said this commissioner.

British and American diplomacy also criticized the sentence. Speaking to reporters outside the Moscow court, Deborah Bronnert, the British ambassador to Russia, said the verdict was “shocking”. Joining him was the United States ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, who recalled that the “criminalization of criticism of government action is an act of weakness, not force.” Both ambassadors called for the immediate release of Vladimir Putin’s opponent.

This is not the first time that Vladimir Kara-Murza has been seen as a target. The politician has already been poisoned twice, once in 2015 and once in 2017.