Vladimir Kara-Murza: UK foreign secretary demands clarity on whereabouts of jailed Russian-British activist

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has urged Russia to provide information about the location of Vladimir Kara-Murza, a British national imprisoned in Russia. Kara-Murza, convicted of treason for criticising the war in Ukraine, was mysteriously moved from a Siberian prison, raising concerns. Lord Cameron pressed on the need for immediate disclosure to Kara-Murza’s lawyers, expressing deep concern for the activist. Enquiries to the Omsk penal colony, where Kara-Murza was held, yielded responses indicating his absence. Lord Cameron, taking to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), voiced his apprehension for Kara-Murza, highlighting the urgency of the situation. The activist’s wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, revealed that her husband had been relocated from a punishment cell, underscoring the lack of grounds for the transfer and invoking past assassination attempts. “I demand that the Russian government provide us with information about my husband’s whereabouts,” Mrs. Kara-Murza stated, seeking transparency in the face of uncertainty. Lord Cameron expressed solidarity with her, emphasising the importance of accountability in this situation. Vladimir Kara-Murza, sentenced to 25 years in April for spreading “false” information about the Russian army and affiliations with an “undesirable organization,” vehemently denied all charges. A vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin, he played a crucial role in urging Western governments to sanction Russian officials for human rights abuses and corruption. The British government condemned Kara-Murza’s sentence, summoning Russia’s ambassador and vowing to scrutinise those involved in his detention. The US State Department labeled him as “yet another target of the Russian government’s escalating campaign of repression.” Kara-Murza, part of a well-known Soviet dissident family, acquired British citizenship as a teenager. The call for clarity on Kara-Murza’s whereabouts echoes concerns over Russia’s secretive prison transfers. Notably, when Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was transferred within the penal system, his supporters experienced a three-week communication blackout.