Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who faces up to 25 years in jail on treason charges over comments critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, maintained his innocence in his final statement to a Moscow court on April 10 and said his trial recalled the show trials conducted by the Soviet Union in the 1930s.
Kara-Murza, 41, told the court he was proud of what he did and would not express remorse for it. He also declined to ask for an acquittal.
The hearing was held in a closed session, but his statement was published by The Washington Post.
Kara-Murza, who was detained in April 2022 after returning to Russia from abroad, is the latest in a string of opposition activists, reporters, and others who have been arrested and prosecuted amid a growing Kremlin crackdown on civil society.
Prosecutors initially charged him with disobeying a police officer but later added a new allegation of discrediting the Russian military, a charge stemming from Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and a Kremlin push to stamp out criticism on the subject. The treason charges were added later over remarks he made in speeches outside of Russia that criticized Kremlin policies.
Kara-Murza said the current environment is not so much like the 1970s -- a period during which the state faced off against Soviet dissidents -- as it is the 1930s, when dictator Josef Stalin conducted a series of show trials and purges of his opponents.
"We’ve gone beyond the 1970s -- all the way back to the 1930s. For me, as a historian, this is cause for reflection," said Kara-Murza.
He statement included a rejoinder to a remark by the judge hearing his case about showing remorse.
“The criminal, of course, must repent of his deeds. I’m in jail for my political views. For speaking out against the war in Ukraine. For many years of struggle against Vladimir Putin’s dictatorship,” he said. “Not only do I not repent of any of this, I am proud of it.”
The former journalist, who holds Russian and British passports, has spent years as a politician opposing Putin and has lobbied foreign governments and institutions to impose sanctions on Russia and individual Russians for purported human rights violations. He has twice survived being poisoned, according to his own accounts and those of his supporters. Russian authorities deny any involvement in the alleged attacks.
Kara-Murza, who is scheduled to be sentenced on April 17, expressed hope that one day “the darkness over our country will dissipate” and “those who kindled and unleashed this war, rather than those who tried to stop it, will be recognized as criminals.”
Earlier on April 10, dozens of Russian journalists and rights activists, many of whom have fled the country, wrote a letter calling on authorities to free Kara-Murza, saying the charges against him are baseless and politically motivated.
"Prosecute murderers and criminals rather than honest and responsible citizens who dare to think and speak the truth," the letter said. "Stop Russia's new slide toward Stalinism and a totalitarian system."