Brit serving 25 years in Siberian prison calls on Russians to end Putin's reign

21 February 2024 , 20:59

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Vladimir Kara-Murza, 42, is serving 25 years in a penal colony (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

A British citizen jailed in Siberia has called on Russians to put an end to Vladimir Putin’s reign of terror.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, 42, is serving 25 years in a penal colony for “treason” and criticising the tyrant’s war against Ukraine. He believes Putin is responsible for rival Alexei Navalny’s death in an Arctic hellhole jail last week.

Opposition figure Kara-Murza said: “He must be stopped. Only Russian society itself can do this.” Like Navalny, Kara-Murza was the victim of poisoning by Putin’s secret services. Bravely, he said from his cell: “Vladimir Putin personally bears responsibility for the death of Alexei Navalny.

“Alexei was his personal prisoner. And only on his personal orders could the poisoners from the 2nd FSB service act.” The same applied to “prosecutors and judges who processed cases and sentences” as well as “prison officials who created torture conditions”.

MPs and friends of Kara-Murza, who also holds Russian citizenship, are working to see him swapped in a prisoner exchange, and allowed to travel to Britain. That campaign is being led by UK-based human rights activist Bill Browder.

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Referring to a series of apartment bombings which were blamed on Chechens and used as a pretext for war, Kara-Murza added: “This man [Putin] has brought death with him throughout the 25 years of his power – since that very autumn, when peaceful people sleeping in their apartments were blown up at night.”

He warned: “The best are dying – the bravest, the most sincere, the most caring. Everyone returns – except those who are most needed.”

Chris Hughes