He had been a close ally of Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered in 2015 within sight of the Kremlin.īut such reprisals were reserved for only a handful of prominent dissidents, and enacted by anonymous hitmen and undercover agents.Īfter Putin last week signed into law extending the punishment for treason from 20 years to life, anyone could be eliminated from public life with the stamp of legitimacy from a judge in robes. Up until now, the worst the foreign press corps feared was having their accreditation revoked by Russia’s Foreign Ministry. This is now changing.įor Kremlin critics, the gloves have of course been off for far longer - before his jailing, Kara-Murza survived two poisonings.
“The state, the, has decided to sharply expand the ‘list of targets’ for charges of treason and espionage,” Andrei Soldatov, an expert in Russia’s security services, told POLITICO. Taken together, the two cases set a historic precedent for modern Russia, broadening and formalizing its hunt for internal enemies. The verdict came a day after an appeal hearing at the same court for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who, in a move unseen since the end of the Cold War, is being charged with spying “for the American side.” A screen set up in a hall at Moscow City Court shows the verdict in the case against Vladimir Kara-Murza | Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, hundreds of Russians have received fines or jail sentences of several years under new military censorship laws.īut never before has the nuclear charge of treason been used to convict someone for public statements containing publicly available information. And so did Russia’s Foreign Ministry, saying: “Traitors and betrayers, hailed by the West, will get what they deserve.” Redefining the enemy The judge, whose own name features on the Magnitsky list as a human rights abuser, agreed.
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