[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 81 (Thursday, May 12, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2487-S2488]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MORNING BUSINESS
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ARREST AND DETENTION OF VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, 1 month ago, Russian authorities arrested
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a tireless advocate for a democratic Russia and
longtime Putin critic, on the street near his apartment in Moscow.
While he was in detention for a fabricated administrative violation,
they charged him further with ``spreading deliberately false
information'' about the armed forces of Russia, which was criminalized
under a Russian law passed after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He
is currently in pretrial detention and could face up to 15 years in
prison if convicted.
Vladimir is a friend and frequent visitor to the offices of many
Members of Congress, myself included. His wife and children live in
Virginia, and he splits his time between the United States and Russia,
where he was born and raised. Vladimir has a special relationship with
the Helsinki Commission and a keen interest in using parliamentary
diplomacy to rally other nations against the Putin regime's
undemocratic and violent policies, particularly the war in Ukraine.
Vladimir was instrumental in the development and passage of the
Magnitsky Act. In fact, a number of colleagues and I recently sent a
letter to President Biden urging that the administration impose
Magnitsky Act sanctions on every Russian official and associate
involved in Vladimir's false arrest and unjust detention.
That Vladimir continues to return to Russia after multiple
poisonings, arrests, and other tribulations is a testament to his
profound courage and dedication to his fellow citizens. He feels that
he cannot, in good conscience, call on Russians to risk their freedom
and lives to resist the evils and complacency of Putin's Russia if he
is comfortably out of harm's way himself.
Two weeks before his arrest, Vladimir testified at a Helsinki
Commission hearing on propaganda and censorship in Russia, where he
warned that speaking out against the war in Ukraine is now grounds for
prosecution in Russia, yet he refused to be silent.
Though now deprived of his physical freedom and in grave danger,
Vladimir's spirit is unbroken; he is unafraid; and he continues to
believe that Russia will one day become a democratic, European state.
He sees the Ukraine war as the last desperate gasp of Putinism, the
beginning of the end.
In our many meetings over the years, Vladimir has always reminded us
of the need to remember prisoners of conscience and speak their names.
As Vladimir now ranks among these hundreds in Russia, and even more
throughout the rest of the world, we will remember him. I call upon my
colleagues to do the same; there is hope and power in not being
forgotten.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the letter to President
Biden that I referred to a moment ago be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
May 5, 2022.
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.,
The White House,
Washington, DC.
Dear President Biden: We urge you to name and sanction
every Russian official and associate involved with the false
arrest, detention, and political persecution of Vladimir
Kara-Murza. Kara-Murza is a Russian opposition politician who
has long stood up against Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. He
embodies what Russia might be one day when it is democratic
and free. We also urge you to examine whether to sanction
those involved in the persecution and imprisonment of other
Russian political prisoners.
Kara-Murza is a Russian patriot who has fought for decades
for democracy in Russia and a prosperous future for his
country. For this, the regime in Russia has poisoned him
twice. On April 11, while in Russia, Kara-Murza called this
regime ``a regime of murderers.'' He was then arrested, and
now faces trumped up charges that may result in years of
unjust imprisonment.
Kara-Murza was the key Russian activist behind the passage
of the Magnitsky Act and its adoption by our allies. The late
Senator John McCain called him ``one of the most passionate
and effective advocates for the passage of the Magnitsky
Act.'' Kara-Murza himself, like his mentor Boris Nemtsov
before him, has called the Magnitsky Act the most ``pro-
Russian law passed in the United States in the history of our
countries.'' Nemtsov was murdered in front of the Kremlin.
The Magnitsky Act is the appropriate tool to sanction those
involved in the persecution of Kara-Murza. We ask that you
coordinate with our allies to sanction these individuals at
the same time. The European Union, the United Kingdom,
Canada, and Australia now all have Magnitsky sanctions laws
of their own.
As Russia loses its brutal war of aggression against
Ukraine, we must consider what might come next in that
country. Kara-Murza offers a vision of a Russia free from
imperialist kleptocracy. He has bravely answered the call of
many Ukrainians for Russians to take a stand and oppose this
bloody
[[Page S2488]]
and senseless war. He must be immediately freed and allowed
to continue his work.
Sincerely,
Ben Cardin, Jeanne Shaheen, Roger Wicker, Sheldon
Whitehouse, U.S. Senators.
Steve Cohen, Gerald Connolly, Brian Fitzpatrick, Richard
Hudson, Marcy Kaptur, Adam Kinzinger, Peter Meijer,
Gwen Moore, Katie Porter, Abigail Spanberger, Joe
Wilson, John Curtis, Ruben Gallego, Sheila Jackson Lee,
Bill Keating, Tom Malinowski, Mike Levin, Burgess
Owens, Maria Elvira Salazar, Marc Veasey, Members of
Congress.
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