Vladimir Kara-Murza, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest detractors, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in Russia after being found guilty of treason.
The 41-year-old father of three and former journalist Kara-Murza, who holds both Russian and British passports, spent years running against Putin in politics.
After criticizing the nation’s invasion of Ukraine, authorities charged him with treason and defaming the military.
Kara-Murza, meanwhile, has criticized his prosecution and likened it to one of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s 1930s show trials.
The opposition leader, who alleges that Russian secret operatives twice poisoned him, rejected to petition the court to free him and stated:
“Criminals are supposed to repent of what they have done. I, on the other hand, am in prison for my political views.”
“I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate,” he said during his trial.
Speaking engagements in the US and around Europe were utilized by Kara-Murza to claim that Moscow had bombed civilian targets in Ukraine, a claim that the Kremlin has refuted.
In an interview with CNN that aired hours before his detention, he further asserted that a “regime of murderers” was in charge of Russia.
His sentence of 25 years, which is the same as what the prosecution asked for, is the heaviest of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine.
The punishment for “discrediting” the army under the censorship regulations that were put in place after Russia invaded Ukraine is currently up to five years in prison.
Spreading intentionally misleading information about the Russian military is likewise punishable by a 15-year prison term.
Investigators added the treason charge, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in Russia, while he was in custody.
Kara-Murza, who formerly served as the People’s Freedom Party’s deputy leader, is currently vice chairman of the pro-democracy and pro-human rights organization Open Russia.
He was a supporter of late Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was fatally assassinated in 2015 close to the Kremlin.
Kara-Murza and his followers claim that he has previously avoided being poisoned twice, in 2015 and 2017.