As of August 1, 2024, Vladimir Kara-Murza is free and reunited with his family.
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian activist, politician, Washington Post columnist, and documentary filmmaker, is our Senior Advisor for human rights accountability.
Kara-Murza was arrested in Russia in April 2022 for speaking out against the Russian government’s brutality in Ukraine and at home. He was convicted in a sham trial of “high treason” and sentenced in April 2023 to 25 years in prison. Since he was first arrested in 2022, through his sham trial, and into his imprisonment, Human Rights First has campaigned for Kara-Murza’s safety, protection, and release.
On August 1, 2024, Vladimir Kara-Murza was released in a negotiated deal involving multiple governments that set free several political prisoners who had also arbitrarily been held in Russian government custody.
Following Kara-Murza’s release, he spoke at a press conference, stating, “I know that I will be back in my home country, and it’ll be sooner than you think.”
“There will be a dawn. The night, as you know, is darkest just before the light.”
- Vladimir Kara-Murza
Human Rights First Efforts
Since the beginning of Kara-Murza’s wrongful imprisonment in 2022, Human Rights First campaigned for his safety, protection, and release.
We worked to keep international focus on Kara-Murza’s situation, including speaking at public events, producing social media, communicating to the public in the United States and elsewhere, and advocating for his release to governments around the world.
Our Response
- Human Rights First Welcomes Release of Vladimir Kara-Murza, Other Political Prisoners – August 2024
- Vladimir Kara-Murza’s Conviction and Unprecedented Sentence are Unjust – April 2023
- Human Rights First Welcomes U.S. Sanctions for Vladimir Kara-Murza’s Persecutors – March 2023
- Human Rights First Recommends Sanctions For Vladimir Kara-Murza’s Detention and Poisoning – October 2022
- Russian Human Rights Activist Vladimir Kara-Murza Arrested in Moscow – April 2022
- Letter to Secretary of State Blinken requesting Kara-Murza be designated “wrongfully detained” – February 2024
- Letter to Secretary of State Blinken requesting Kara-Murza be designated “wrongfully detained” (jointly with Free Russia Foundation and Raoul Wallenberg Centre) – July 2022
- Magnitsky Sanctions and Political Prisoners: Lessons from the Case of Vladimir Kara-Murza – August 23, 2024
- Vladimir Kara-Murza is Free from Russian Prison – August 12, 2024
- A Simple US Step Can Help Protect Another Imprisoned Democracy Activist in Russia (with Natalia Arno) – April 1, 2024
- Sanctioning Vladimir Kara-Murza’s Persecutors: Lessons and Next Steps – August 2023
- Criticizing the Kremlin: Human Rights Sanctions Coming in the Case of Vladimir Kara-Murza – October 2022
Other Efforts in the United States
Human Rights First joined allied civil society organizations and congressional leaders to advocate for Kara-Murza’s safe release from arbitrary detention and raise international attention around Kara-Murza’s case.
At right, Vladimir Kara-Murza’s wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, urges action on her husband’s behalf.
Civil Society & Government Response
- Biden Administration Must Accelerate Efforts to Free Kara-Murza – Joint Statement, February 2024
- Wexton and Kaine Call for Urgency in Release of Vladimir Kara-Murza, Virginian Wrongfully Detained in Russia – October 2023
- McCain Institute, Democracy Groups Call on President Biden to Elevate Vladimir Kara-Murza Case – June 2023
- Democracy Organizations Demand the Release of Vladimir Kara-Murza One Year into Arbitrary Arrest and Detention – April 2023
- Wicker Leads Legislators in Call to Free Vladimir Kara-Murza – April 2023
- Risch, Menendez Urge Biden Admin to Make Global Magnitsky Sanctions Determination over Putin’s Wrongful Imprisonment of Vladimir Kara-Murza – September 2022
- International Democracy and Human Rights Organizations Call for Release of Vladimir Kara-Murza Ahead of Appeal Hearing – April 21, 2022
- S.Con.Res.7 – A concurrent resolution condemning Russia’s unjust and arbitrary detention of Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza who has stood up in defense of democracy, the rule of law, and free and fair elections in Russia – May 2023
- H.Res.377 – Calling for the immediate release of Evan Gershkovich, a United States citizen and journalist, who was wrongfully detained by the Government of the Russian Federation in March 2023 – May 2023
- S.Res.632 – A resolution calling for the immediate release of Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was unjustly detained on April 11, 2022 – May 2022
- H.R.7776 – James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 – May 2022
Senate Foreign Relations Event to Call for Release of Vladimir Kara-Murza and Others Unjustly Imprisoned in Russia – U.S. Capitol event, April 8, 2024
Vladimir Kara-Murza: Putin’s Personal Prisoner – U.S. Helsinki Commission, Committee on Security and Cooperation in Europe hearing, September 2023
A Year of Injustice: The One-year Anniversary of Vladimir Kara-Murza’s Wrongful, Unlawful, and Arbitrary Detention – U.S. Capitol event, April 2023
International Sanctions Efforts
Kara-Murza played a key role in the U.S. Congress’ 2012 passage of the original Magnitsky legislation, which imposed targeted sanctions on Russian human rights violators. He then urged other countries to pass similar targeted sanctions legislation.
In both 2015 and 2017, he was poisoned and survived the resulting comas. These attempts on his life were widely viewed as the Russian government’s retribution for his work on Magnitsky sanctions.
Since Kara-Murza’s imprisonment in 2022, governments around the world have imposed Magnitsky sanctions on his persecutors. View our sanctions tracker to learn more about who governments targeted with sanctions for their involvement in Kara-Murza’s case.
Vladimir Kara-Murza’s work
Beyond his work on Magnitsky sanctions and advising Human Rights First, Kara-Murza advocated for democracy and human rights in Russia, worked as a journalist and commentator, and directed documentary films, among other work.
- Russian Opposition Leader Vladimir Kara-Murza Addresses the Arizona House of Representatives – March 15, 2022
Kara-Murza addresses the Arizona House of Representatives on democracy in Russia and Putin’s aggression toward Europe and the West. This is the speech that was the pretext for Kara-Murza’s arrest.
- Russian ‘regime of murderers’ revealed by twice-poisoned Putin critic, CNN – April 11, 2022
Kara-Murza’s final interview before his arrest.
60 Minutes profile of Kara-Murza
A previously unseen interview where Kara-Murza speaks on being poisoned and why people in the West shouldn’t take their freedom for granted.
Vladimir Kara-Murza moderated, led, or spoke at a number of events hosted by Human Rights First.
- From Corruption to Crisis – March 2022
Kara-Murza spoke on a panel, moderated by Human Rights First, on corruption and human rights crises in Afghanistan, Russia, and Ukraine.
- Current Legislative Efforts to Adopt Global Magnitsky Sanctions – September 2021
Kara-Murza moderates discussion on international adoption of targeted sanctions with U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, Australian Senator Kimberley Kitching, Japanese Representative Shiori Yamao, and New Zealand MP Simon O’Connor.
Kara-Murza moderates a panel with Bill Browder, Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign; Annie Boyajian, Freedom House; Kizito Byenkya, Open Society Foundations; and Irwin Cotler, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.
Vladimir Kara-Murza directed a range of documentaries about freedom and dissent in Russia.
- They Chose Freedom – 2005
Part 2- Society against the State
Part 4 – History Repeats Itself
- Nemtsov – 2016
- My Duty to Not Stay Silent – 2019
- Reform or Revolution: The Quest for Responsible Government in the First Russian State Duma – 2011
- Kara-Murza has a contributing writer to The Washington Post since 2017. He continues to publish op-eds from prison.