The wife of imprisoned Russian oppositionist V. Kara-Murza calls for prisoner exchanges

After Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died under mysterious circumstances in an Arctic prison colony last month, his team later revealed that a deal to free him in a prisoner swap was in the “final stages” shortly before his death.

When journalists in Geneva asked if similar discussions were taking place regarding her husband, Yevgenija Kara-Murza answered that she knew nothing about such negotiations.

“But I know that in the Soviet era it was a way of freeing some dissidents, and I think that if it was possible in the Soviet era during the Cold War […] it is certainly possible even today,” she said.

Speaking at an event organized by the United Nations Correspondents’ Association ACANU, she admitted that due to very limited opportunities to communicate with her husband, she did not know if he would agree to leave if the opportunity arose.

“However, I think that in cases where people’s lives are at stake, and there are quite a few such cases in Russia today, […] I think that all methods should be used to save the lives of these people,” said J. Kara-Murza.

A. Navalny’s death has raised fears about the remaining Kremlin critics imprisoned in Russia, of which V. Kara-Murza is perhaps the most prominent.

A maximum security prison

Last year, V. Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison, the longest sentence of any critic of President Vladimir Putin.

He was charged with treason after he said in a speech in the United States that Russia had committed war crimes against Ukraine.

Kara-Murza, who is also a British citizen, has serious health problems that his wife and lawyers say were caused by two poisoning attempts in 2015 and 2017 by Russia’s FSB security service.

Ms Kara-Murza said the attempts to poison her husband had caused a serious disease called polyneuropathy, which can cause paralysis.

She said the disease is included in the list of medical conditions that cannot be imprisoned under Russian law.

“But, of course, Vladimir is not only imprisoned,” said the woman. – He is kept in a prison with a very strict regime. He has not received any treatment for more than half a year and it is obvious that his health is deteriorating there.”