The criminal case against Mr Kara-Murza emerged swiftly. Already on 12 April, when the politician was arrested for 15 days for "disobeying a police officer", a report on the discovery of "crime" was placed on the Investigative Committee's (IC) desk. On the same day an investigator of the Chief Investigation Department of the IC, whose surname was Zadachin, examined it and requested to start an investigation. Ten days later, the politician was taken from the detention centre in Moscow district Mnevniki for interrogation, then brought directly to court. "Novaya Gazeta. Europe" tells us what happened next.

On 22 April, Vladimir Kara-Murza and his defence were supposed to appeal against the administrative detention in the Moscow City Court, but a criminal case changed the plans. The defence had been informed that it was a hearing aimed to decide the preventive measures less than one hour before it started in the IC. According to Kara-Murza's lawyer Vadim Prokhorov, at 3:40 PM it was announced that at 4:30 PM the Court Basmanny would consider the investigation's application for arrest. The court itself reported the receipt of the case materials at 4:43 PM. Two minutes later, the bailiffs stopped letting the audience into the building, claiming it was too late. However, this did not prevent them from letting in staff members of federal TV channels who were still being admitted after 5 PM.

The politician's mother Elena Sergeevna, Moscow City Duma deputy Mikhail Timonov, ex-figure of the "Bolotnaya Square case" Nikolai Kavkazsky and about a dozen journalists, including videographers with impressive cameras managed to get into the courtroom before the doors were closed. The session did not start until after 7 PM. In the small courtroom, Vladimir Kara-Murza sat next to his lawyers, Vadim Prokhorov and Olga Mikhailova. In front of them, at the same table, sat a middle-aged prosecutor and a young investigator, Zadachin. The transparent "aquarium" of the prisoner’s dock behind the lawyers' backs was empty.

Judge Elena Lenskaya was appointed to preside over the trial. When asked if he knew what he was suspected of, Mr Kara-Murza replied: "Yes, I’ve read it."

According to the resolution on instituting criminal proceedings, in his speech Kara-Murza "intentionally circulated under the guise of reliable reports false information containing data on the use of the Russian Armed Forces to bomb residential areas, social infrastructure facilities, including maternity homes, hospitals and schools, as well as on the use of other prohibited means and methods of warfare during the special military operation in Ukraine, thus causing significant harm to the interests of the Russian Federation".

/Photo/ Photo from the criminal case file

"Russian politics should remain in Russia"

The defence demanded a postponement of the hearing until Monday. The lawyer Olga Mikhaylova underlined that there was no information in the case file about the detention of the politician under Article 91 of the Code of Penal Procedure, and in case he was detained, it was necessary to give up to 72 hours from the time of detention in order to provide the defence with the possibility to collect — he was not in the "aquarium" or even handcuffed. Lawyer Vadim Prokhorov agreed with his colleague and reminded the court that neither the defence nor Kara-Murza had had time to prepare for the hearing.

"I'm not going anywhere if the hearing is postponed - I'm not going back home, but to special detention centre number two", — Kara-Murza tried to reassure the judge.

The prosecution expectedly objected to the postponement, stating that there had been enough time to prepare, and the court refused the defence's motion. Investigator Zadachin then read out an order instituting criminal proceedings. According to him, Kara-Murza could be a flight risk, as he is a British citizen and has real estate and bank accounts in the US. In addition, he is accused of a serious crime that can be punished with up to ten years of imprisonment. The prosecutor briefly supported the investigator, adding that Kara-Murza works for a foreign organisation recognised as "undesirable" in Russia. He did not specify which one.

Vladimir Kara-Murza then gave a speech:

"Sofia Kallistratova, a famous Moscow lawyer in the sixties, known for her speeches in political trials against Soviet dissidents, always gave her clients the following advice: 'Don't cross the road at red lights, only walk on green'. They were not supposed to commit any, not even the slightest offence, not to give any reason for the investigator to initiate proceedings against them. I follow this rule and I suggest you do the same. <...>

I have never committed any offence or crime, and all the documents of the investigation are not true. I am an honest politician and journalist, I have been working for more than twenty years, all this time exercising my constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression.

I strongly deny any involvement in any kind of crime. There is no corpus delicti in these documents and my entire case is for 100% political from the beginning to the end. All this is an attempt to point me out to my political position, to which I am entitled. Therefore it is not very clear to me how it is possible to speak within the framework of the task that is set here, what kind of preventive measure of should be chosen. In my opinion, there should be none. I am a law-abiding person, I have not broken any law and I am not going to.

Regarding the idea that I might be running away or hiding somewhere. Twice, in 2015 and 2017, there were attempts on my life. After that, I was in a coma due to severe poisoning. Thanks to the doctors who healed me, I am standing before you now. Nevertheless, I am here because I believe that Russian politics should remain in Russia. My actions best confirm these words — I am still here. Despite the repressive laws passed in March of this year, I have no intention of hiding or fleeing. The fact that I am not going anywhere is confirmed by my whole life, by my activity. I ask you to apply a non-custodial preventive measure.

Two poisonings, three children and not a single piece of evidence

The politician's lawyers in their statements pointed out inaccuracies and irregularities in the case file. According to Olga Mikhaylova, the case does not contain reasonable suspicions about Kara-Murza's involvement in the crime. Thus, according to the documents, the IC has made claims against Kara-Murza in connection with the speech in Arizona.

However, it is not clear how the investigators confirmed the time, location and address of the alleged "crime" — there is no information about this in the case file.

It is unclear how the investigation determined that the crime was committed on the US territory.

The case file does not contain the text of the very report of 12 April on providing the elements of involvement in the "crime". In addition, the case file shows that the politician spoke before the members of the House of Representatives in Arizona in English. The case file includes a record of an examination of some speech on YouTube — according to this, the investigator translated the video from English into Russian with the help of an interpreter. "Did the interpreter who assisted the investigator really know English? There are no documents on the interpreter's qualifications in the case file," said Mikhaylova. - Such documents cannot justify detention".

"There is Article 12 of the Russian Penal Code, which sets out the effect of the criminal law on persons who have committed a crime outside Russian territory. As can be seen from the case file, this is the offence with which Kara-Murza is charged. But the case file does not contain the decision of a foreign state regarding the same case. In order to be legally prosecuted for a crime committed on the territory of a foreign state, it is necessary to have a relevant decision of the court of the foreign state itself," the lawyer said.

In addition, according to Mikhaylova, the defence does not understand the origin of the allegations about Kara-Murza's real estate in Washington and his funds in foreign banks, as well as his work in the political organisation Free Russia. "No petitions have been attached, the total - everything is based on speculation of the investigation," the lawyer concluded.

As she said, "the material was gathered hastily and very unprofessionally ", the investigator Zadachin put his hand over his face and smiled.

The lawyer Vadim Prokhorov spoke next. He asked to attach to the case file the birth certificates of Kara-Murza's three minor children, a copy of the politician's medical file, other medical documents, personal guarantees from three deputies of the Moscow City Duma and an extract from the certificate of the household with the place of residence.

"Shortly after the murder of our friend Boris Nemtsov, Mr Kara-Murza was poisoned and remained for one month and a half in a coma and kept alive using life support.

It had been the first attempt at poisoning, after which he learned to walk with a cane for a year. Of course, such events had grave consequences. And then there was the second one... Having this happen twice resulted in an irreversible loss of health for his body. The consequences — listing only those that I have managed to print out — were ischaemic heart disease, unstable angina, cerebral edema, acute respiratory failure, acute vascular failure, acute renal failure. <...> We did not have enough time to collect certificates of the chronic diseases, but with such an epicrisis it is clear that they are present" Prokhorov said.

The defence lawyers suggested a bail of five million roubles, house arrest in the politicians mother's flat and a personal guarantee as possible restraining measures.

The prosecution said that "possessing a flat does not constitute grounds for a more lenient restraining measure". The investigator and the prosecutor did not express any objection to attaching the documents.

Screenshot from Wikipedia and the report of iPhone 13 inspection

Among the written evidence of the case, the court named a record of a comprehensive linguistic examination of Kara-Murza's speech conducted by Mr Danila Mikheyev, a well-known "expert" in political cases — it was his expertise that served as the grounds for the administrative cases against activists Maria Alekhina and Daria Serenko, as well as the criminal cases against the Petrozavodsk activist Alexei Chesnokov and anarchist Ekaterina Muranova, convicted for justifying terrorism. Earlier, the independent Russian online newspaper The Insider found out that Mr Mikheyev had registered in Solnechnogorsk, a city in the Moscow Region, a company called Independent Expert — it does not exist in the All-Russian Register of Forensic Expert Organizations, though the forensic reports carry this company's seal.

The list also includes a screenshot of the Wikipedia page dedicated to Mr Kara-Murza and a protocol of an inspection of his personal mobile phone, which was carried out while he was in the detention centre

Kara Murza's lawyer Olga Mikhailova pointed out a few more inaccuracies in the case file. "The inspection had been launched at 12:05 PM, although the case was opened some time later — at 14:00. Thus, the examination of the evidence had taken place even before the opening of the case. Speaking about the act of comprehensive linguistic examination — accepting that examination is illegal, as the investigation did not address a state institution or even its own research centre, but a private institution.

An investigator can refer to a private institution only in one case — when there are no state institutions on the territory. But in order to get Kara-Murza into custody as soon as possible, they turned to their expert who is more lenient towards the Investigative Committee," said the lawyer.

According to Ms Mikhaylova, "there is no grounds to say that the information contained in the report is reliable". The other lawyer, Mr Prokhorov, supported his colleague.

The judge then retired to the deliberation room to take the decision on the restraining measure for the politician. After a one-hour break, she read out the ruling, according to which Vladimir Kara-Murza was sent to a pre-trial detention centre for one month and 21 days, until 12 June. Departing immediately from the court, the lawyers went with the politician to the Investigative Committee to bring charges against him.

Ten minutes after the end of the meeting it was discovered that the Russian Ministry of Justice had included Vladimir Kara-Murza in the register of individuals considered "foreign agents".

EUGENIA KARA-MURZA, THE POLITICIAN'S WIFE — ABOUT THE CRIMINAL CASE

It isn't over, the sentence has not been passed yet, although we roughly understand what we will be told. And after the trial there will still be news that Vladimir will be charged. Because we have a "wonderful", well-tuned machine that stamps verdicts on opposition activists. It is possible to send a person to prison for five or ten years in half an hour.

When he called me telling that he had been detained [in an administrative case on 11 April], it was immediately clear why. They just put a man in jail under some ridiculous article for 15 days and took advantage of that time. I think they just had their eyes distracted as to which case to bring up — there were Volodia's (Russian diminutive for Vladimir) speeches about imposing personal sanctions, the release of political prisoners, his work on international platforms, and all his anti-war speeches.

I think that this power is very afraid of its people. This power is afraid of any brave person who does not give in to it and firmly says: "No, this is not my power and this is not my war. I am not going to support it in any way and I am certainly not going to keep silent. More than 15,000 arrests since the outbreak of war in Ukraine reflect this. You don't have to go far — people are grabbed for a no reason on the streets, with a volume of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.

Frankly, we were well aware that this could have happened at some point. He had already been poisoned twice, these were attempts on his life, he barely survived. Now they have decided that he survives and continues his work. Now they will be hiding all the oppositionists behind the bars, so they can't work, carry out their activity efficiently, and Volodya is very efficient. The Magnitsky Act is being passed every day in a new country, sanctions are being imposed, we saw it at the beginning of the war. Yes, if these sanctions had been imposed seven or ten years ago, there would not have been a war. But the fact that such legislation was passed in different countries made it possible to impose sanctions very quickly after the start of the invasion. Volodia's work is very effective, and he certainly is a real thorn in their side. His poisonings in 2015 and 2017 were clearly linked to his work in imposing personal sanctions on the murderers and thieves of this regime.

Vladimir is an honest man, honest to the bone, decent and absolutely inflexible in what regards the matters of principle. He is a true patriot of his country. He says that as a Russian politician he must be where people are fighting evil. And he believes that he has no moral right to encourage people to fight if he himself is safe. For him, the two concepts are incompatible — if he calls for a fight, he must be at the forefront of that fight. Again, absolute honesty. To himself, first and foremost.

As well as in front of people, but it all comes from some inner strength. If you don't have this, at some point you will break. He has an absolutely incredible iron inner core. A man who has been tried so many times to be "offed": hinted at, harassed, and now imprisoned. But he understands what he is fighting for and what he is doing it for — so that Russia can finally become a normal democratic country. So that our children would be able at any moment to board the plane and fly to their homeland without fearing for their lives and security. We have three children: two girls, aged 16 and 13, and a boy, aged 10.

I read the ruling on the initiation of criminal proceedings and there is a wonderful phrase there — that his actions were "motivated by political hatred". That's a terrific wording. How else can one relate to a regime of murderers and thieves that has made 11 million Ukrainians wander, that they have had to abandon their homes, take their children under their arms and flee? How else can one treat the mass rapes, the mass murders, the bombing of maternity hospitals, if not with hatred? Volodya continues to be honest to the last scrawl. At some point in this situation there comes a time when one cannot remain silent. You cannot keep silent, you cannot be afraid any more. If you are afraid, you will be trampled. You have to fight back.

Translated by Asiya Aitmatova