On the heels of the passing of Alexei Navalny, the leader of the Russian opposition, another political prisoner is attempting to keep the hope of change alive, even from the confines of his prison or prison cell.
Once, when incarcerated in Russia, the opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza wrote to me, "Freedom is a price that must be paid with great difficulty."When he made this statement, he was referring to Boris Nemtsov, his political mentor, who had been murdered in Moscow in 2015, very next to the Kremlin.
At this time, Alexei Navalny, the most formidable adversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has passed away.
In contemporary Russia, the cost of holding political opposition has never been higher, nor has the objective of effecting change been so far removed.
It is because of the fear of retaliation that the death of Navalny did not result in widespread and passionate demonstrations. The act of putting flowers in his remembrance was enough to warrant the arrest of several hundred individuals.
On the other hand, Mr. Kara-Murza is adamant about not giving up either his struggle or his hope.
This week, he issued a call to action to those who support the opposition, urging them to "work even harder" in order to accomplish what Navalny and Nemtsov had battled for: the opportunity to live in a free nation.
In the distant past, he made his own decision. "The price of speaking out is high," the activist wrote to me shortly after his detention in 2022. "It is a serious matter."
"But the price of silence is unacceptable."
Powerful males
Vladimir Kara-Murza, who is 42 years old, and Alexei Navalny, who was 47 years old, are two completely different guys.
As a captivating speaker who has some of the egotism of a natural-born leader, Navalny established himself as a phenomenon on social media.
The scholarly Mr. Kara-Murza is a soft-spoken individual who is more of a lobbyist in the back room than a crowd-gatherer.
Even at this late stage, he is not a well-known figure in Russia.
Nevertheless, both individuals were driven by the same convictions and shared the same drive: they believed that Putin's Russia was not forever and that political freedom was available.
During the time when Navalny was producing video exposés of corruption at the highest level of authority, Mr. Kara-Murza was lobbying Western governments for penalties that would target the assets and cash stashed abroad of officials.
Both have made a steep price.
Mr. Kara-Murza fainted and went into a coma in the year 2015, which was five years prior to the attack on Navalny that was carried out with a nerve agent.
It occurred once more after a period of two years. In the United States, tests proved that he had been poisoned.
However, he never ceased expressing his opinions, which included condemning the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that was carried out by Mr. Putin.
Despite the fact that the indictment sheet made no mention of anything other than peaceful opposition action, Mr. Kara-Murza was given a sentence of 25 years in prison for treason last year.
Travel back to Russia.
In 2021, after an attempt was made on his life, Alexei Navalny made the decision to fly back to Russia. Some people thought he was being extremely reckless.
Opposition politicians who have decided to live in exile rather than be imprisoned believe that it is pointless to make sacrifices when there is no possibility of change.
Navalny had a different way of thinking.
It is imperative that you ensure that you are ready to defend your convictions if you believe that they are worth something. A few days before he passed away on February 16th, he scribbled these words: "And if it is necessary, make some sacrifices."
In the same way that Navalny does, Vladimir Kara-Murza is married and has children. In addition to that, he possesses a British passport and U.S. residency. However, he never once questioned his decision to go back to Russia.
"I didn't think I had the right to continue my political activity, to call other people to action, if I was sitting safely somewhere else," Mr. Kara-Murza wrote to me in 2022, when he was already incarcerated. "I was sitting somewhere else."
When it came to both of them, it was a matter of conscience.
Now, one of them has passed away, while the other is incarcerated out of reach of his family, who have only been permitted to make one phone call in the past half year.
"I didn't speak to him myself because I didn't want to take time away from the kids," Evgenia Kara-Murza said what she did during the call.
The three youngsters were each given five minutes of their own time by the activist's wife.
She stated, "I was standing there with a timer," and meant it.
Women of strength
Earlier this week, the widow of Navalny released a video statement in which she urged his supporters to continue their fight.
"I want to live in a free Russia, and I want to build a free Russia," Yulia Navalnaya said, guaranteeing that she would carry on the job that her husband had started over the years.
She displayed such bravery that Evgenia Kara-Murza was awestruck. "She's doing her absolute best to go through hell with her head held high and she is amazing."
The wife of Mr. Kara-Murza, on the other hand, has taken on a responsible position of her own.
Since his detention in April 2022, she has been traveling the world, pressing Western leaders to assist her husband and other political prisoners, and condemning Russia's attack on Ukraine. She has also been speaking out against Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
She goes on to say that the invasion is another evidence that Putin's rule is a "murderous regime."
Evgenia was about to board a flight to the United States to visit their children when we had our conversation. After that, she was on her way to London, where she would make a request to the ministers of the United Kingdom to increase their efforts to locate Vladimir, who is a citizen of both the United Kingdom and Russia.
"I want them to be more forceful in trying to get him out, and demanding proper medical attention," according to her.
"But making one government care about its citizen is hard these days."
repression within prisons
As was the case with Navalny, Mr. Kara-Murza has been continuing to be persecuted while incarcerated.
A number of months have passed since the activist was placed in solitary confinement, and he has been denied access to any of his personal possessions, including photographs of his children.
In January, he was sent to a new prison that had more stringent rules, and he was even denied access to his literature.
Because of the poisoning, his health is deteriorating, and it is getting worse. Since Navalny's passing, there has been a rise in the amount of pressure for Mr. Kara-Murza's release.
The nerve injury is continuing to migrate to his right side at this point. I was informed by Evgenia Kara-Murza that it is a serious condition that has the potential to result in paralysis.
She was able to catch a glimpse of her husband on video link from prison to a court in Moscow this week, which is a rare occurrence. He was attempting to persuade the Investigative Committee to initiate a criminal investigation into the poisoning and death of him.
Mr. Kara-Murza was wearing a black uniform that was loosely draped over his physique. This was a significant departure from the Tweed jackets that had been his signature look in the past.
But his determination appeared to be stronger than it had ever been as he exhorted the Russian people not to give up hope.
The few fans and reporters who were let to enter the courtroom were addressed by him, and he claimed that Russia will be free. "We don't have that right," he said.
"No-one can stop the future."
Where will we go?
That video clip from the courtroom was viewed "a thousand times" by Evgenia Kara-Murza several times.
"I think he's doing the right thing - and a great thing," she commented to me.
"People feel heartbroken and demoralised and those uplifting words from people who've refused to give in to pressure and intimidation are truly important."
"I'm very proud of Vladimir for staying true to himself, despite this hell."
Both the strength and the hope that her husband has in the future are qualities that Evgenia possesses. Even now, when there are so many activists who are either incarcerated or living in exile.
"What's crucially important is remaining a human being and trying to do whatever you can," says the psychologist.
"Not giving up."
Her spouse has always been inspired by the enormous protests that occurred during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which she cites as an example.
An opportunity for major collective action did not present itself until the late 1980s and early 1990s. Prior to that, there was nothing. Her statement is that after that, people went out into the streets.
"We need to do everything possible to be ready for the moment when the regime shows cracks."
"For when we get that chance."
Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index Google Index