WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this week joined U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in introducing a bipartisan resolution in commemoration of the upcoming one-year anniversary of Vladimir Kara-Murza’s arrest. The resolution condemns the inhumane treatment of Kara-Murza at the hands of Russian authorities and urges for increased U.S. government support to the Russian opposition.
“It has been almost a year since Vladimir Kara-Murza was unjustly arrested for speaking the truth about Putin’s brutal war on Ukraine," said Risch. “On this solemn anniversary, we reaffirm our support for Mr. Kara-Murza and all those in Russia who are punished for exercising their freedoms of speech, assembly, and expresion. The Biden Administration should step up its efforts to ensure all political prisoners are released."
Background:
Russian opposition leader and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza has suffered two attempted assassinations via poisoning and now faces up to 25 years in prison on bogus charges. Kara-Murza, a staunch pro-democracy and human rights leader, has repeatedly advocated for free speech in his homeland and opposed Vladimir Putin’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine.
Full text of the resolution can be found here.