Although this would not immediately relieve Mr. Kara-Murza’s serious plight, it is a first step that would allow the United States to negotiate a prisoner exchange with Moscow. But the administration has not made the designation, and seems to be having doubts. They should not, and ought to explain their thinking.
Complicating the situation is the fact that the United States is grappling with several difficult and high-level cases. Paul Whelan, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who has U.S., Irish, British and Canadian citizenship, was arrested in 2018, and in 2020 was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison for espionage. A Wall Street Journal correspondent, Evan Gershkovich, was detained March 29 and accused of espionage. Mr. Gershkovich held a valid press accreditation from the Russian Foreign Ministry. Both of these cases have been designated by the United States as wrongfully detained, as they should be.
Mr. Kara-Murza is — in the words of his wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza — a Renaissance man. A historian, filmmaker and journalist, he become a leading opposition politician in Russia, learning at the knee of reformer Boris Nemtsov. He has twice suffered poisoning attempts for his political efforts. Mr. Kara-Murza contributes a periodic opinion column to The Post, often focusing on his vision for a free Russia. In an interview from prison just published with the journalist Yevgenia Albats, editor in chief of New Times, Mr. Kara-Murza said he returned to Moscow last year with a clear sense of purpose. “I am deeply and firmly convinced that a politician can only remain a politician while in his own country,” he said. “The public politician must share the risks with his fellow citizens. It is impossible to call on people to fight against an authoritarian regime while being at a safe distance.”
Nonetheless, Mr. Kara-Murza qualifies for the designation as wrongfully detained under the Levinson Act. He has “significant ties to the United States”: His wife and children are U.S. citizens. (He holds British and Russian citizenship.) The State Department says that in making a determination, it considers “the totality of the circumstances,” including factors such as “the fairness of the judicial process, the veracity of the charges, and motivation or other circumstances surrounding or related to the arrest or the detention.” Mr. Kara-Murza’s trial procedure was highly irregular. The charges against him — treason, belonging to an undesirable organization and dissemination of false information about the Russian military — are based on five speeches in which he spoke nothing but truth. The motivation of the arrest was to silence him. Sure, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government has made it illegal to criticize the military, including the use of the word “war.” But the United States should not be endorsing this absurdity. Mr. Putin is a perpetrator of war crimes against Ukraine; that is the real criminality.
Mr. Kara-Murza stands for unshakable principles. The United States must stand with him.
