Havana Cuba. — During the last weeks the trial followed in Moscow against the journalist, opponent and activist of human rights Vladimir Kará-Murzá. The last session was held on the 10th. It has been announced that the Court that is judging him will announce his sentence on Monday the 17th. This is one more of the judicial farces that the stalwarts who serve the dictatorship of Vladimir Putin orchestrate from time to time against those who oppose him.
Under this monstrous regime, investigators, prosecutors, and judges have refused to prosecute, charge, or try —let’s say— the Federal Security Service officers named, with names and surnames!, as the alleged perpetrators of the well-known poisoning of opposition leader Alexéi Navalny (and, for that matter, also of the two perpetrated against Kará-Murzá himself). But those same repressors of the regime do show extraordinary diligence in persecuting those who demonstrate against Putin’s authoritarianism.
In the case of the recently concluded trial in Moscow, the accusation is that of “treason against the Fatherland.” The latter, according to the “official story”, would have been characterized by having spread “false news” about the Russian Army. That is why they are asking for a whopping amount of 25 years in prison. In reality, what the defendant did was to clearly condemn the barbaric aggression that, under various pretexts and under the euphemistic name of “Special Military Operation”, the dictator Putin launched against Ukraine.
The defendant’s defense attorney, my colleague Vadim Prokhorov, stated several weeks ago: “It is obvious that the authorities decided to hold the Kará-Murzá trial at a cosmic pace, as fast as possible.” I would like to comment: it is evident that the illustrious Russian lawyer is unaware of the corruption in the countries of “21st century socialism.” If we talk about judicial speed and celebration, what better examples than the trials of “Los 75” in Cuba in 2003 or that of the bishop Rolando Alvarez in the Nicaragua of 2023!
The absolute lack of procedural guarantees that Kará-Murzá is now facing is revealed in the secrecy that, unfounded and arbitrarily, has been imposed on his process. The numerous journalists and diplomats based in Moscow who have come to the headquarters of the Court, have found that they are not even allowed to go up to the fourth floor of the judicial building, which is where the sessions are held. This —they say— to avoid that, through the doors, they can hear something of what happens in the room…
To top it off, many of those attending the trial—including defense witnesses—seem to have been impressed by the official warning not to divulge any secret information they may have learned as a result of their participation in the trial. For this reason, many of them choose not to reveal what they observed at the trial to the many journalists waiting outside the court.
This is not the case of my colleague and friend Alexander Podrabínek. He, “old dog” in this matter of confronting arbitrary acts (before, Soviet and communist; now, Russian and Putin) knows that what is prohibited is divulging state secrets; not the incidences of the session that he has attended. The narration of the scandalous atrocities perpetrated a few days ago by the authorities, while he testified as a defense witness, is visible in Russian and English on his Facebook wall, under a forceful and accurate title: “Judicial Circus”.
Fortunately, the text of what was expressed this Monday by the defendant when making use of his right to the last word has been known. Kará-Murzá bravely expressed “no regrets” and declared himself proud of his political commitment and his love for Russia. He only regretted that he failed to convince his compatriots and politicians from democratic countries about the danger that the current regime represents for Russia and the world.
Several dozen independent journalists demanded their freedom in a statement. In this they branded the accusations as “unfounded” and “cynical”. “Kará-Murzá is a true patriot who in the first days of the war already spoke out against Russian aggression.” “But today, in Russia, advocating for peace and the cessation of war is a crime.” The applicants describe the trial as a “clear example” of Russia’s return “to the Stalinist practices of political terror.”
Unfortunately, we could paraphrase the great García Márquez, and qualify this grotesque farce as the “chronicle of an announced sanction.” It is unreasonable to expect that, since it suits a person who has limited himself to expressing his opinion, Kará-Murzá will be acquitted. The only doubt that can be had is how many years the unjust sanction that will be imposed will amount to. But I think we can trust that this period will be much longer than the time that the dictator Putin will remain in the Moscow Kremlin. And it is reasonable to think that the end of that dictatorial regime will result in the release of the prisoner of conscience.
In this context, it is appropriate to quote what my colleague Podrabínek wrote: “In all this absurd judicial farce, I am really concerned about only one thing: the condition of Vladimir Kará-Murzá. He resists well, he is smiling and his spirits do not drop, but he looks pale, exhausted and seriously ill.
Let us hope that the brave Russian democrat can overcome the tough situation he is facing today; that the hopes of his early release (and also those of Navalny and the other political captives who are his compatriots) come true sooner rather than later; and that the great country of all of them advance decisively towards freedom, peace and democracy.
