Incarcerated opponent Vladimir Kara-Mourza on Thursday called on Russians not to
“despair”
and to continue the fight for democracy, after the death in prison of Alexeï Navalny.
“I still can’t wrap my head around what happened, rationally or emotionally.
But if we give in to gloom and despair, that's exactly what they want.
We have no right to do this, we owe it to our fallen comrades
,” said Kara-Mourza, speaking at a court hearing via videoconference.
A long-time friend of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Kara-Mourza was also close to Boris Nemtsov, another opponent killed near the Kremlin in 2015.
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Kara-Mourza was able to transmit a message published Tuesday on social networks by his team.
“Responsibility for the death of Alexei Navalny lies personally with
Vladimir Putin
, because Alexei was his personal prisoner
,” he wrote.
“A vengeful, fearful, greedy old man maintains his deadly grip by destroying everything he perceives as a threat to his power
,” added the opponent, referring to President Vladimir Putin.
“It is impossible to give up”
Kara-Mourza, a Russian-British citizen, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being accused of treason, spreading “
false information”
about the Russian army and maintaining links with an
“undesirable organization”
.
This is the heaviest sentence imposed on an opponent in the recent history of the country.
He is also in very poor health, according to his supporters, the result of two poisonings he suffered in the past.
In his message, he specified that he learned of the death of Alexeï Navalny on the radio, in his cell, on February 16, the day of the broadcast of the brief press release from the prison administration announcing the death of the main opponent of Vladimir Putin.
From his prison in Siberia, Kara-Mourza expressed his hope to
“make Russia a normal and free European democratic country”
.
“Alexei said: don’t give up.
It is impossible to give up
,” he said.