Lawyer Jailed Dissident Flees Russia
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – A lawyer defending Russian opposition politician and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, sentenced to 25 years imprisonment this week, says he fled Russia after receiving threats.
Vadim Prokhorov, also known for assisting other prominent Kremlin critics such as Ilya Yashin, anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, and the late Boris Nemtsov, explained that he left the country quickly, fearing for his safety.
Prokhorov told U.S. broadcaster Voice of America In Washington D.C. that his escape came days before a Moscow court sentenced Kara-Murza to more than two decades in jail earlier this week.
He said a Russian politician had tipped him off about a probe against him on unspecified charges planned by prosecutors.
His confirmed escape came as a Russian interior ministry driver is facing a lengthy jail term for spreading “fake news” about the war in a personal phone call.
Russian authorities reportedly tapped Sergei Klokov’s phone a few weeks after Moscow invaded Ukraine, and he was detained in March 2022. He apparently told a friend over the phone: “We think we are fighting fascism, but there isn’t fascism there. There isn’t.”
LONG PRISON TERM
The state prosecutor asked the court to give him a nine-year jail term. Klokov’s lawyer argues any comments his client made were in private conversations and, therefore, cannot be considered an attempt to disseminate information to the broader public.
Last Monday, a judge in Moscow jailed Kara-Murza, a Russian-British national, after finding him guilty of treason, spreading “false” information about the Russian army, and being affiliated with an “undesirable organization.”
Kara-Murza has repeatedly denied all the charges. But, according to sources familiar with the case, he has nearly died twice after being poisoned but refused to leave Russia despite the growing risk to Kremlin critics.
Prokhorov’s departure is a setback for Kara-Murza and opposition politician Yashin, who lost his appeal against an eight-and-a-half-year jail term on Wednesday. Yashin was also found guilty of “spreading false news about the army,” including making statements about war crimes allegedly committed by Russian forces in the town of Bucha outside Kyiv.
Independent investigators believe Russian forces killed hundreds of people after they entered the city in April last year.
They were later forced to withdraw.
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