The wife of Vladimir Kara-Murza called for an exchange of prisoners

The wife of the Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is serving a 25-year term in a high-security colony, advocated the exchange of prisoners in order to free political prisoners in Russia. Evgenia Kara-Murza told journalists in Geneva about this, DW reports.

“When human lives are at stake, it is necessary to use all methods to save the lives of these people,” said Evgenia Kara-Murza.

According to her, not only her husband is in danger, but also other activists, including Alexandra Skochylenko, who was sentenced to prison for protesting against the war in Ukraine, and Aleksey Gorinov, a deputy of the Moscow District Council, who also received a term for criticizing Russian aggression .

Earlier, a member of the British Parliament, Bob Sily, told The Guardian that he had discussed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the possibility of exchanging Kara-Murza, who has British citizenship, citing his serious health condition. “If Putin was able to kill Navalny, he will be able to kill Kara-Murza as well,” said Sily and called on the British authorities to consider all options, including the exchange of “Russian spies.”

However, the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ruled out such a possibility, as they believe that such steps encourage the seizure of hostages by the state.

After the death in the colony of Alexei Navalny, which his supporters consider a murder, a number of American human rights and non-governmental organizations, as well as public figures, addressed an open letter to the President of the United States, Joe Biden. The letter notes that Vladimir Kara-Murza may become “the Kremlin’s next victim” if the United States does not resolutely and quickly seek his release. The letter states that Kara-Murza has a residence permit in the United States and, therefore, meets the criteria for recognition by the American government as an illegally detained person and for inclusion in any negotiation process with Russia on the release of prisoners.

Russian oppositionist Ilya Yashin, who is in the colony, appealed to the leadership of the UN, to the President of the United States, and to the leaders of the EU countries with the call to “use all diplomatic tools to achieve the earliest release of Kara-Murza.” He draws parallels between the activities of Navalny and Kara-Murza, noting that both of them “created personal problems” for the Russian president’s entourage and that “Putin had previously tried to kill both of them.” Kara-Murza twice – in 2015 and 2017 – was in intensive care in a coma with a diagnosis of “toxic exposure to an unspecified substance”.

• In April 2023, Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in a strict regime colony on charges of treason, cooperation with an undesirable organization, and fakes about the Russian army. Russian courts recognize reports about the war in Ukraine that do not coincide with the Kremlin’s version as fakes. Kara-Murza is serving a term in IK-7 of the Omsk region.