Between Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Crimea and Ukraine, the attempted assassinations of former Russian spies on British soil, and Russia’s control of a large proportion of Europe’s energy supply, Russia provides Western liberals plenty of reasons to be concerned. But they must be careful not to neglect an important group of victims of authoritarian repression: political prisoners who continue to languish in Russian security prisons despite repeated call from foreign diplomats and international organizations for their release. That’s according to Irwin Cotler and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who call for sanctions against 16 Russian officials responsible for the illegal detention of political prisoners in an op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen.
- Russia’s mistreatment of political prisoners is documented in a new 290-page report, detailing allegations against Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as a number of ministers, security officials and judges. The report was authored by Perseus Strategies, a public interest law firm based in Washington, D.C.
- Perseus estimates that around 300 people are held as political prisoners in Russia.
- The report urges imposition of sanctions modeled on the Magnitsky Act, which imposed sanctions against a number of Russian officials after the 2009 murder of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian tax lawyer beaten to death in prison.
