The European Union imposed sanctions against nine Russians in connection with the sentence of opposition politician and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was given 25 years in prison under articles on “treason” and the spread of “fakes”.
The statement, published on the website of the Council of the EU, says that the list includes judges Sergei Podoprigorov, Diana Mishchenko, Elena Lenskaya, Ilya Kozlov, investigators Andrei Zadachin and Denis Kolesnikov, director of the Independent Expert company Danila Mikheev, and the head of SIZO-5 in Moscow Dmitry Komnov. According to the Council of the EU, the head of the pre-trial detention center, Komnov, is responsible for the "humiliating treatment" that subsequently led to a significant deterioration in Kara-Murza's health.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that the list also includes Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation Oleg Sviridenko, who is responsible for the implementation of legislation on "foreign agents."
The EU called on Russia to immediately release Kara-Murza and all those imprisoned on politically motivated charges.
On April 17, 2023, the Moscow City Court sentenced Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison – 3 years under the article on carrying out the activities of an undesirable organization, 7 years under the article on "fakes about the army", and another 18 years – for "treason". The politician has been in a Moscow pre-trial detention center on charges of spreading fake news since April 2022. The case was initiated because of Kara-Murza's speech in the Arizona House of Representatives on March 15, 2022, then he was charged with carrying out the activities of an "undesirable organization". The latest accusation is related to the fact that on October 27, 2021, Kara-Murza held a conference in support of Russian political prisoners at the Sakharov Center in Moscow with the money of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Free Russia Foundation. In March 2023, during his stay in the punishment cell, the politician began to experience numbness in his limbs. Kara-Murza began to lose sensitivity, first in the right foot, and then in the left.
In April 2023, Kara-Murza's lawyer Vadim Prokhorov admitted that he left Russia a few days before the verdict was due to possible criminal prosecution. Prokhorov claims that during the process he was threatened with a criminal case by the prosecutor and the judge.