Congressman Cohen Calls for Vladimir Kara-Murza to be Classified as Wrongfully Detained

Helsinki Commission hearing on Vladimir Kara-Murza: Putin’s Personal Prisoner

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), the House Ranking Member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today participated in a hearing entitled, Vladimir Kara-Murza: Putin’s Personal Prisoner. The hearing discussed the case of journalist and democracy advocate Vladimir Kara-Murza, imprisoned by Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin, and featured Kara-Murza’s wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, and television personality Meghan McCain, whose father was the prisoner of war and late U.S. Senator John McCain, as witnesses.

The commission is seeking Kara-Murza’s designation as “wrongfully detained” under the Levinson Act by the U.S. State Department, so far to no effect. Kara-Murza is serving a 25-year sentence in Siberia for treason after publicly condemning Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Congressman Cohen last year was appointed the first-ever Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) Special Representative on Political Prisoners.  The OSCE PA is a 57-nation regional security organization promoting peace, stability and democracy.

In his remarks at the hearing, Congressman Cohen said in part:

“There’s no one I hold in higher esteem than Vladimir Kara-Murza. He is indeed a hero of the world, a hero of democracy, and a hero of people who stand up for democracy. He went back to Russia even though he’d twice been poisoned. He told me he had to go back because he’s a Russian politician and a Russian patriot…I cautioned him for his own safety, and I think others did too. He was driven to do the right thing. That’s what heroes do…They’re driven by conscience…

“We have been trying to get him designated under the Levinson Act as a wrongful detainee, and the State Department hasn’t given us a reason why not. They’ve assured us they’ve done everything within their power to get him released and to see that he’s treated properly. They’ve been in contact with him and all that’s fine and good, but why they won’t answer our questions is beyond me. We are members of the United States Congress and we asked the Secretary of State to give us a response and the Secretary of State should respond.”

Congressman Cohen likened Kara-Murza’s case to that of Paul Rusesabagina of Rwanda who was given the wrongfully detained status after being jailed on trumped up terrorism charges.

The designation wouldn’t immediately free Kara-Murza, Congressman Cohen conceded, but it would be “another arrow in our quiver” in seeking his release, he said.

See Congressman Cohen’s opening statement here.

See his exchange with the witnesses here.

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