On April 17, journalist and opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza (recognized as a foreign agent) was sentenced to 25 years in prison for treason and spreading fake news about the Russian army. According to lawyer Aleksey Fedyarov, both the case itself and the verdict say a lot about how domestic law enforcement agencies and courts will continue to work.
The case of Vladimir Kara-Murza, recognized as a foreign agent, is extremely important for further law enforcement in Russia. The very fact of its initiation in April 2022 did not fit into the general outline – even if we assume that the security forces were given the task of destroying any rudiments of protest.
They immediately started talking and writing about the case. Basically, these were lengthy humanistic reflections on the return of repression. The facts and circumstances of the case were categorically lacking. More precisely: I was mistaken that there are not enough facts and circumstances. It cannot be that a person is charged with high treason simply for publicly criticizing the authorities.
Reading everything that went into the public space, I was looking for clues, believing that somewhere in the case there is the most important thing that the authorities are hiding for the time being. There was a temptation to ask lawyer friends, or acquaintances in law enforcement, but resisted. Just because I understood that a criminal case was initiated based on the materials of the FSB against a person who is extremely “allergenic” for law enforcement agencies, which means that there is a powerful operational support, and the very fact of conversations on this topic may be punishable – go ahead and know that now is a state secret, what is not yet, and what, when necessary, quite yes.
But it turned out that there is nothing hidden, nothing of the very “important”, nothing that would allow pro-Kremlin bloggers to savor the details of betrayal. Vladimir Kara-Murza simply criticized the authorities, but the problem is not that he did nothing criminal. The problem is that what he did was enough to sentence him to 25 years in prison.
The plot of the accusation
Let’s get to the heart of the matter. Vladimir Kara-Murza was detained and arrested in April 2022. He was charged with disseminating knowingly false information about the armed forces of Russia (part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) due to the fact that in March 2022, speaking before the legislators of the state of Arizona, according to the investigating authority, he disseminated knowingly false information about the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine.
It is unlikely that the investigators were faced with the task of sending a “single-celled” case to court (as one-episode cases that are easy to investigate are called in slang), rather, on the contrary, they needed a history of systemic anti-state activity. Like it or not, the accusation under Art. 284.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (carrying out the activities of an undesirable organization) – holding in Moscow in October 2021 a “conference in support of political prisoners”, which, according to the investigation, was paid for by the Free Russia Foundation registered in the USA. It would seem that an ordinary event that should not scare anyone in power, and, I’m sure, didn’t scare, but in 2019 the foundation was recognized in Russia as an undesirable organization, which “gave” the investigation a new episode.
A separate bewilderment is the qualification as high treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) of three public speeches by Vladimir Kara-Murza at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Lisbon (October 2021), at the Helsinki Committee in Oslo (at the same time) and in Washington at the Helsinki Commission of the US Congress (March 2022).
special moment
The time since February 2022 for a lawyer in Russia is a disappearing reality that repeats itself in Pelevin’s novels. The legal field is torn to shreds, the shreds crumble into ashes. There is someone who can do anything, just read the Telegram channels of military correspondents or Igor Strelkov. There is not just criticism, there are direct accusations of the country’s leadership and the Ministry of Defense of incompetence, corruption and even betrayal. But these authors of defamatory content do not seem to exist for the security forces, despite their millions of subscribers. And there are people like Vladimir Kara-Murza – intelligent, educated, little known among the masses, speaking at forums far away for the “deep people” with lengthy arguments that no one in the country has read, heard or is going to, but there are nuances …
And there should be no nuances. You can’t pass sentences on nuances.
The case of Vladimir Kara-Murza is a milestone. For the first time, the court applied a new version of the article on high treason – now it is not only the transfer of secret information, but also the provision of assistance to a foreign state in activities directed against the security of Russia that cannot be precisely defined. It was this accusation that became the foundation of the term, on which the judge measured 18 years in prison – another seven under Articles 207.3 and 284.1.
Sentence Technology
I will try to schematically show what it is – the security of Russia from the perspective of criminal prosecution.
In Article 275 of the Criminal Code itself, the disposition reads as follows: “… providing financial, logistical, consulting or other assistance to a foreign state, international or foreign organization or their representatives in activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation.”
The National Security Strategy of Russia was approved by Presidential Decree in July 2021. National security is defined there as “a state of protection of the national interests of the Russian Federation from external and internal threats, in which the implementation of the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, a decent quality and standard of their life, civil peace and harmony in the country, the protection of the sovereignty of the Russian Federation, its independence and state integrity, socio-economic development of the country”.
A threat to national security is “a set of conditions and factors that create a direct or indirect possibility of causing damage to the national interests of the Russian Federation.”
And national interests, in turn, are “objectively significant needs of the individual, society and the state in security and sustainable development.”
This casuistic quest is not easy to pass, but one thing is important – everyone can become Kara-Murza.
I will note a few more points.
Speed. The case was investigated and considered by the court at the present time in “turbo mode”.
Developed algorithms. Witnesses, experts, specialists – the investigation has everything they need, practically online. Closed trials, cutting off the public, ignoring the position of the defense, the expected verdict.
Indifference. Vladimir Kara-Murza and those who follow him into these millstones will not receive public support. It ended not only for liberals. She’s completely finished. And the military correspondents mentioned earlier may well follow the liberal politician. If only a decision is made. By the way, I am sure that many of them understand this.
