A criminal case has been opened in Russia against Russian pro-democracy activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, claiming he spread "false information" about the war in Ukraine in the United States in March.
Kara-Murza, 40, was arrested earlier this month in Russia. He faces up to 10 years in prison, the official decree about his case opening says, reports The New York Times.
In the document, posted on Facebook Friday by the writer's attorney, Vadim Prokhorov, the Russian government said it is investigating the activist for remarks he had made at the Arizona State Legislature on March 15.
The decree accused him of making remarks about the Russian bombings of civilian targets in Ukraine that were because of "motives of political hatred" when he told a Phoenix news outlet that Russia was committing "war crimes," even while saying that "Russia and the Putin regime are not one and the same."
On Friday, a Moscow judge ordered Kara-Murza to be placed in pretrial detention until June 12 because of "the nature of the suspicions" facing him, Prokhorov said.
Kara-Murza insisted in a Friday hearing while trying to remain out of jail that he had no plans to leave Russia.
"I am a Russian politician and I have to stay in Russia," the Russian media outlet Mediazona reported.
Kara-Murza has a home in Northern Virginia but travels often to Russia and has a Moscow apartment, reports The Post.
He has been poisoned twice in recent years through the use of undetermined toxins, resulting in neurological damage.
Kara-Murza was once a close associate of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was killed in 2015 near the Kremlin.
The journalist/activist remained in Russia, even while others fled, saying in recent interviews that he belongs inside Russia and that the Kremlin wanted him to leave.
Last week, in a Post column written from jail, Kara-Murza insisted that "Russia will be free. I’ve never been so sure of it as I am today."
Post Publisher Fred Ryan, in a statement Friday, said "Americans should be infuriated by Putin’s escalating campaign to silence Kara-Murza" and should demand his immediate release.
Earlier this month, Kara-Murza was arrested for disobeying the police and sentenced to 15 days in jail. However, he's now under investigation under a much more severe law, prohibiting "criminalizing false information" about the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law on March 4, and the Kremlin insisted that the new law was made intentionally harsh because of the West's "information war that has been unleashed by our country."
According to rights group OVD-Info, at least 35 criminal cases have been launched in Russia under the new law, with another 1,258 cases filed under a lesser charge of "discrediting" the Russian armed forces.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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