Family and friends of jailed British-Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza have become increasingly concerned about his fate after he disappeared from a prison colony in Siberia.
Mr Kara-Murza, who has survived two poisonings since 2015, was jailed for 25 years in April 2023 by a Moscow court on charges of treason over his opposition to the war in Ukraine.
He has been held in solitary confinement in a maximum-security penal colony in Omsk for the past four months, but on Monday his wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, said he has been moved to an unknown location.
She tweeted: “We have just learned that after 4 months of solitary confinement my husband ‘left’ (as put by an official) the strict-regime penal colony in Omsk in an unknown direction.”
Mrs Kara-Murza has previously expressed serious concerns about her husband’s health while in prison, saying the attempts on his life have left him with polyneuropathy, a form of nerve damage.
She has also repeatedly called on the Government to do more to help secure the release of Mr Kara-Murza, a British citizen, saying she fears he will die if he is not freed soon.
We just learned that after 4 months of solitary confinement my husband @vkaramurza “left” (as put by an official) the strict-regime penal colony in Omsk in an unknown direction #WhereIsKaraMurza pic.twitter.com/Jsn2hgibL1
— Evgenia Kara-Murza (@ekaramurza) January 29, 2024
Bill Browder, a friend of Mr Kara-Murza and head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, described the removal of the dissident as “pure sadism”.
He said: “As he’s a UK citizen, our Foreign Secretary David Cameron should be using all tools to get Vladimir released. The Government must act decisively before he dies in prison, which will likely happen if he’s not released.”
MPs have also called on the Government to act, including Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns.
Ms Kearns said: “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s toying with Vladimir Kara-Murza is a sign of weakness and of how much Putin fears those who represent freedom of thought and will challenge his kleptocracy.
“Kara-Murza is a political prisoner and British citizen; my thoughts go out to his incredible wife, family and friends.
“This is yet another example of Putin’s Russia’s disregard for the rule of law and use of arbitrary detention to deter dissent. The UK must appoint a dedicated national hostage lead to better protect and advocate for British nationals wrongly held abroad.”
The removal of Mr Kara-Murza from the facility in Omsk echoes the treatment of prominent Putin critic Alexei Navalny, who disappeared for several weeks in December before resurfacing in a prison colony in the Arctic.
The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.