Mourning Navalny and Remembering Kara-Murza

As the world continues to mourn the death of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, VOC looks back on his legacy and remembers the plight of other courageous Russians who are still held political prisoners by Vladimir Putin. 

Vladimir Kara-Murza, is one such dissident. A long-time colleague of Navalnny, he is tireless in his march for the liberty of all Russians and the receipient of VOC’s 2023 Dissident Human Rights award. Today, Kara-Murza is trapped behind bars in Russia. His crime? Standing up to the Kremlin’s oppression. 

Read VOC’s Dr. Lee Edward’s speech Kara-Murza’s Enduring Legacy below to learn more about this true Russian patriot and hero.

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation presents its Dissident Human Rights Award to those individuals who have pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to opposing communism and all forms of totalitarianism and furthering the cause of human rights . 

Today, we present our Dissident Human Rights Award to Vladimir Kara-Murza, journalist, human rights activist, documentary filmmaker, and today a prisoner of conscience in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. As a journalist, Kara-Murza has served as a correspondent for global media outlets such as BBC and The Washington Post. He has produced documentaries on the history of the dissident movement in the Soviet Union, and the life and work of his close friend and opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated just steps from the Kremlin.  

I first met Vladimir almost a decade ago and have long admired him as an eloquent and courageous champion for a free and democratic Russia.      

Long a vocal critic of the Putin regime, Vladimir has worked with the Russian political opposition to advocate free and fair elections, civil liberties, and the peaceful removal of Vladimir Putin from power. To this end, he has worked with the Open Russia Foundation, where he served as coordinator, and on multiple boards of the Russian political opposition. For his human rights leadership he was targeted by the Kremlin resulting in two poisonings that almost took his life.    

He played an essential role in securing the 2012 passage of the Magnitsky Act, designed to punish officials responsible for “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights” and broader acts of corruption. Kara-Murza has advocated for other Western nations, including Canada and the EU, to adopt similar legislation, following the illegal Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014.   

For his peaceful opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir was arrested in April 2022 under the pretext of disobeying police orders. Just prior to his arrest, he had spoken out against Russia’s “unprovoked and unlawful” invasion of Ukraine, knowing the regime would penalize him severely. He also charged the Putin regime with waging a parallel war “against what remained of independent media in Russia” through a new law prohibiting public dissent. On April 17th of this year, Vladimir Kara-Murza [cara-moorzah] was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment for the supposed crimes of spreading “deliberately false information” about the Russian Armed Forces, cooperation with “undesirable” organizations, and “high treason.” 

Vladimir Kara-Murza has been awarded the Václav Havel Prize for Human Rights by the Axel Springer Foundation and UN Watch, in addition to other commendations, including the Sakharov Prize for Journalism as an Act of Conscience, the Magnitsky Human Rights Award, and the Geneva Summit Courage Award. The VOC Foundation joins other organizations around the world that have called for his immediate release and the clearing of all charges against him. 

We salute Vladimir Kara-Murza for his unflinching courage and his eloquent advocacy for a peaceful, free, and democratic Russia. While the Putin regime continues its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and its suppression of the human rights and civil liberties of Russian citizens, outstanding heroes like Vladimir ensure that one day Russia will be free.  

Accepting the VOC Dissident Human Rights Award for Vladimir Kara-Mura is Natalie Arno, president of the Free Russia Foundation, which has been declared an “undesirable” organization by Russian authorities. The VOC Foundation is proud to associate with the Free Russia Foundation, which is, in our opinion, one of the most desirable and needed organizations in Russia.   

Dr. Lee Edwards is the Founding Chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and recipient of its Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom.

Photo courtesy of the Lithuania Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Flickr