III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 7 

Condemning Russia’s unjust and arbitrary detention of Russian opposition 

leader Vladimir Kara-Murza who has stood up in defense of democracy, 

the rule of law, and free and fair elections in Russia. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 23, 2023 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. WICKER) submitted the following concurrent 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Condemning Russia’s unjust and arbitrary detention of Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza who has 

stood up in defense of democracy, the rule of law, and 

free and fair elections in Russia. 

Whereas, on April 11, 2022, Vladimir Kara-Murza was unjustly detained by Russian authorities for spreading supposedly ‘‘false information’’ in a speech in March 2022 

to the Arizona House of Representatives; 

Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza in his March 15, 2022, speech presented a defiant condemnation of Vladimir Putin’s policies and leadership outlining his corruption and malign 

intentions, and condemning the illegal war of aggression 

Putin has unleashed against Ukraine; 


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•SCON 7 IS 

Whereas, prior to his arrest in April 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza 

was poisoned twice by agents of the Russian Government 

and the Russian Federation in 2015 and 2017 with a 

military-grade agent banned internationally, likely in retaliation for his defiant stance in support of rule of law 

and democracy in Russia; 

Whereas, despite having survived two assassination attempts 

and the subsequent side effects of these poisonings, Mr. 

Kara-Murza regularly returned to Russia to advocate for 

democratic representation in Russia; 

Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza has consistently advocated for democracy in Russia and insisted that democracy in Russia 

must be advanced by Russians for all those living in Russia; 

Whereas, in August 2022, new charges were brought against 

Mr. Kara-Murza for ‘‘carrying out the activities’’ of an 

‘‘undesirable foreign organization’’ and his arrest was extended for his work as a leading member of Russian civil 

society; 

Whereas, in October 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza was further 

charged unjustly with ‘‘high treason’’ in part due to his 

public condemnations of the Kremlin’s military aggression on Ukraine and domestic repressions; 

Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza remains in pretrial detention and 

faces a prison sentence of up to 24 years on high treason 

and other charges; 

Whereas the state of Mr. Kara-Murza’s health has deteriorated and in addition to losing over 45 pounds, he was 

diagnosed with polyneuropathy, a condition that under 

Russian law should preclude him from his current detainment; 


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Whereas, as a result of his diagnosis, he has lost feeling in 

both his feet and has experienced symptoms similar to 

those he experienced following his 2015 poisoning due to 

peripheral nerve damage; 

Whereas section 5599F of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Public 

Law 117–263) condemned Mr. Kara-Murza’s unjust detention, expressed solidarity with Mr. Kara-Murza, his 

family, and all individuals imprisoned in Russia for their 

beliefs, and urged the United States and other ally governments to work to secure the release of Mr. KaraMurza and other citizens of the Russian Federation imprisoned for opposition to Vladimir Putin’s regime and 

his illegal war in Ukraine; 

Whereas, in April 2022, Vladimir Kara-Murza was presented 

the McCain Institute’s Courage and Leadership Award 

for his unwavering commitment to fundamental values 

and his acts of selfless courage which have inspired the 

world; 

Whereas, in October 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza was awarded the 

Vaclav Havel Prize honoring outstanding civil society action in defense of human rights; 

Whereas the late Senator John McCain said Mr. Kara-Murza 

‘‘is a brave, outspoken, and relentless advocate for freedom and democracy in Russia’’ and introduced Mr. KaraMurza as ‘‘a personal hero whose courage, selflessness, 

and idealism I find awe-inspiring’’; 

Whereas, in March 2023, the Department of the Treasury 

and the Department of State imposed Global Magnitsky 

and other targeted sanctions on six Russians involved in 

Mr. Kara-Murza’s ongoing arbitrary detention, recogVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SC7.IS SC7

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nized his role as ‘‘a major advocate for the adoption of 

Magnitsky-style sanctions authorities by the United 

States, Canada, European Union, and United Kingdom 

to target human rights abusers and corrupt actors in 

Russia’’, and called for his immediate release; and 

Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza remains a political prisoner and a 

victim of Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian state: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) condemns in the strongest possible terms 

4 the unjust and arbitrary detention of Russian demo5 cratic opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza; 

6 (2) calls on the Russian Federation to imme7 diately release Mr. Kara-Murza and all other Rus8 sian opposition leaders who are detained as a result 

9 of their opposition to the Putin regime; 

10 (3) calls on all Russian citizens to outright con11 demn Russia’s illegal and unjust invasion of Ukraine 

12 in the spirit of Mr. Kara-Murza’s defiant opposition 

13 stance in front of the Arizona House of Representa14 tives in March 2022; 

15 (4) expresses solidarity and calls for the release 

16 of all political prisoners in Russia and Belarus as 

17 well as Ukrainian citizens illegally held as prisoners 

18 by Putin’s regime in violation of the rule of law as 


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1 a result of their support for liberal democratic val2 ues; and 

3 (5) calls on the President of the United States 

4 and leaders from across the free world to work tire5 lessly for the release of political prisoners in Russia 

6 and increase support for those advocating for democ7 racy in Russia as well as independent media and 

8 civil society which Mr. Kara-Murza has worked to 

9 further. 

Æ 


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