“We, the undersigned leaders in legislatures around the world — the duly elected democratic voices of our constituents and countries — unreservedly condemn the arbitrary arrest of Vladimir Kara-Murza and call for his immediate release.”
On Monday, April 11th, Mr. Kara-Murza was detained by Russian Security Services as he was about to enter his home following an international media interview, arrested on the false charges of not obeying the police. He has since been charged under the new law criminalizing opposition to the invasion of Ukraine, and is now facing up to 15 years of imprisonment.
A violation of the Russian constitution and of the country’s international legal obligations, the arbitrary arrest of Mr. Kara-Murza — who is also a UK citizen, a US Permanent Resident, and a Senior Fellow at a Canadian institution — represents the continued criminalization of freedom in Putin’s Russia. United in common cause, we call for an end to Putin’s punitive persecution and prosecutions of Russian civil society leaders, the release of Mr. Kara-Murza and all political prisoners, and the expansion of targeted Magnitsky sanctions against Russia’s architects of repression.
Vladimir Kara-Murza has emerged as one of Russia’s most respected democratic opposition leaders, a noted public intellectual and voice of conscience. He has testified before our Parliaments, and represents the very best of what Russians stand for and the country that Russia can aspire to be. Targeted for his principled leadership, Mr. Kara-Murza has survived two assassination attempts, and nonetheless continues to shine a spotlight on the Russian people’s opposition to Putin and his war of aggression.
The unjust imprisonment of Mr. Kara-Murza is emblematic of the crimes perpetrated by Putin’s regime against both the Russian and Ukrainian peoples, and the international community more broadly. Left unchecked, its internal repression has often morphed into external aggression, with the atrocities in Ukraine being the latest and most pernicious manifestation in a long line of wars, murders, thefts, corruption, disinformation and election interference. We must stand with those heroes on the front lines, like Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is putting his life on the line in defence of our shared values, sacrificing his freedom to help others secure theirs.
While Russia’s leading defender of political prisoners has now regrettably become one himself, we pledge to not relent in our efforts until he is free, bringing the same dogged determination to securing his release as he has brought to building a better Russia. Our shared commitment to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law demand no less.
Contacts:
Honourable Irwin Cotler, PC, OC, OQ, Ad.E Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights +1 514.735.8778 [email protected]
Natalia Arno Free Russia Foundation +1 202.549.2417 [email protected]
Endorsements
Zygimantis Pavilionis, Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Lithuania; Former Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Lithuania (2020-22); International Secretary of the Homeland Union/Lithuanian Christian Democrats
Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Marco Rubio, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women’s Issues; member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States
Mario Diaz-Balart, Member of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations of the United States; Chairman of the US Delegation to the Transatlantic Legislators Dialogue; Member of the U.S. Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and Vice-Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Transatlantic Relations (PCTR) of the Political Committee
Ali Ehsassi, Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights; Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development of Canada Anita Vandenbeld, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development; Member of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of Canada
Garnett Genuis, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development of Canada Heather McPherson, Member of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights; Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development of Canada
Heidi Hautala, Vice-President of the European Parliament Klára Dobrev, Former Vice-President of the European Parliament (2019-2022); Member of the European Parliament Urmas Paet, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament; Former Foreign Minister of Estonia
Andreas Kubilius, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament; Standing rapporteur on Russia; Former Prime Minister of Lithuania
Guy Verhofstadt, Member of the European Parliament; Former Leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (2009-2019); Former Prime Minister of Belgium
Anna Fotyga, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament; Secretary-General of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party; former Foreign Minister of Poland
Radosław Sikorski, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament; former Foreign Minister and Minister of Defence of Poland
Frances Fitzgerald, Member of the European Parliament; Former Deputy Head of Government of Ireland; Former Minister of Justice of Ireland
Rasa Juknevičienė, Member of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence of the European Parliament; former Minister of Defence of Lithuania
Csaba Molnár, Member of the European Parliament; Former cabinet Minister of Hungary
Raphael Glucksmann, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament; Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights; Chair of the Special Committees on Foreign Interference in All Democratic Processes in the European Union
Bernard Guetta, Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights; Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament
Viola von Cramen-Taubadel, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament; member of the Special Committees on Foreign Interference in All Democratic Processes in the European Union
Thijs Reuten, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament
Mounir Satouri, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament
Michael Gahler, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament
Juozas Olekas, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament
Ioan-Dragos Tudorache, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament
Petras Austrevicius, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament
David Lega, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament
Miriam Lexmann, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament
Javier Nart, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament
Charlie Weimers, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament
Eugen Tomac, Member of the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament
Attila Ara-Kovács, Member of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence of the European Parliament
Sergey Lagodinsky, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament
Morten Løkkegaard, Member of the Special Committees on Foreign Interference in All Democratic Processes in the European Union
Ausra Maldeikiene, Member of the European Parliament
Ivan Stefanec, Member of the European Parliament
Liudas Mazylis, Member of the European Parliament
Vlad Gheorghe, Member of the European Parliament
Jan-Christoph Oetjen, Member of the European Parliament
Sándor Rónai, Member of the European Parliament
Nicolae Ștefănuțăm, Member of the European Parliament
Nils Ušakovs, Member of the European Parliament
Pavel Fischer, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security of the Czech Republic
André Gattolin, Vice-Chair of the Senate Committee on European Affairs of France
Gabor Grendel, Deputy Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic
Kerstin Lundgren, Deputy Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson of the Centre Party
Margareta Cederfelt, President of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly; Former President of Parliamentarians for Global Action; Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Swedish Riksdag
Michael Roth, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag
Nils Schmid, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson of the Social Democratic Party
Ulrich Lechte, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson of the Free Democratic Party
Ines Voika, Deputy Speaker of the Latvian Seimas
Rihards Kols, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Latvian Seimas; Representative of the Latvian seimas to the OECD
Michal Kaminski, Deputy Speaker of the Polish Senate
Bogdan Klich, Chairman of the Foreign and European Affairs Committee of the Senate of Poland
Samuel Cogolati, Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Belgian Parliament
Charlie Flanagan, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Ireland; former Foreign Minister
Tom Tugendhat, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
Mark Pritchard, Member of the National Security Strategy Committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom; Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party Parliamentary Foreign Affairs & Defence Committee;