Russian authorities on Friday declared opposition baby-kisser Vladimir Kara-Murza a “foreign agent” and ordered his pre-trial detention for allegedly spreading false facts about the Russian army.
Moscow’s Basmanny district courtroom ordered that the forty-year-antique Kremlin opponent be held in jail till June 12, his legal professional Vadim Prokhorov stated on Facebook.
Prokhorov said in advance within the day that Kara-Murza changed into dealing with criminal prices over spreading allegedly fake information about the Russian army amid Moscow’s navy campaign in Ukraine.
Kara-Murza was a close associate of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oligarch turned Kremlin critic.
He has for years campaigned in the West against President Vladimir Putin’s regime.
According to a copy of an order on the institution of criminal proceedings posted by Kara-Murza’s lawyer on Facebook, the case against him was launched over his speech about Putin’s military campaign in Ukraine to members of the lower house of the Arizona Legislature in mid-March.
Asked about the criminal charges, the Kremlin on Friday told reporters that “there is a law that is being implemented”.
“The Investigative Committee exercises its powers and duties in accordance with this law,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said without providing further detail.
The law, which was introduced after Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24, imposes prison sentences of up to 15 years for publishing information about the military deemed false by the Russian government.
Last week, Kara-Murza was sentenced to 15 days in jail for disobeying police orders.
Kara-Murza claims he was poisoned twice — in 2015 and 2017 — because of his political activities.
In a separate move, Kara-Murza was declared a “foreign agent” along with several prominent journalists including Alexei Venediktov, the editor of the now dismantled Echo of Moscow radio station.
Moscow has stepped up efforts to stamp out dissent after Putin sent troops to Ukraine.
Independent media outlets have been shut down or suspended operations, and tens of thousands of Russians have left the country in protest over the Kremlin’s policies.
By regulation, individuals or entities recognized as “foreign retailers” ought to reveal resources of funding, undergo audits and accompany all their texts, films and social media posts with a caption mentioning content material from a “overseas agent”.
The reputation is reminiscent of the Soviet-era term “enemy of the human beings” and is supposed to apply to humans or businesses that acquire investment from overseas and are involved in any form of “political hobby”.
