David Cameron steps up pressure on Vladimir Putin to free Vladimir Kara-Murz – dubbed ‘heir’ to Alexei Navalny

David Cameron is to rachet up pressure on Vladimir Putin by assembly the spouse of Russia’s most distinguished opposition chief after Alexei Navalny for crunch Whitehall talks, The Independent can reveal.

In a marked escalation of political tensions between the UK and Russia, the Foreign Secretary will on Friday sit down with Evgenia Kara-Murza, whose Cambridge-educated husband, Vladimir Kara-Murza, is serving a 25-year sentence in a distant Siberian penal colony for spreading “false” details about the Russian military.

The excessive-degree talks come as human rights figures warn the ‘heir to Navalny’ is subsequent on Putin’s hitlist.

Mr Kara-Murza, 42, who’s a British passport holder and studied historical past at Trinity Hall, was in April handed the longest jail sentence of any Kremlin-critic, together with the late Alexei Navalny, because the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

At the time, he in contrast his case to the Stalinist present trials of the 1930s.

Mrs Kara-Murza’s assembly with Lord Cameron will happen throughout a interval of heightened concern for the lives of political prisoners in Russia following the demise of Mr Navaly within the “Polar Wolf” Arctic Circle penal colony earlier this month, which Mrs Kara-Murza believes was homicide.

“I think, I hope that I do not need to convince anyone of the urgency of this meeting,” she instructed The Independent.

Mr Kara-Murza’s crime, his allies say, was accusing Russia of “committing war crimes” in Ukraine throughout a speech within the US in March 2022.

Since his arrest in April 2022, exterior his flat in Moscow, and his sentencing a 12 months later, his spouse Evgenia has met with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) a number of instances, throughout which she has urged them to negotiate his launch.

They preserve that they won’t negotiate with the Kremlin, as they are not looking for to encourage state hostage taking and the conferences have failed to produce any motion.

Despite earlier efforts to meet each Liz Truss and James Cleverly, Mrs Kara-Murza was unable to plead her husband’s case to both of the then-overseas secretaries.

Prominent human rights activists and British politicians at the moment are urging the UK authorities to drop their lengthy-standing coverage opposing hostage negotiations.

Baroness Helena Kennedy, a Labour member of the House of Lords who champions human rights, mentioned Mr Kara-Murza will die if he isn’t rescued.

“If we do not make a prisoner exchange for Vladimir Kara-Murza, a British citizen, he will die at the hands of Putin,” she mentioned. “Of that I have no doubt. I would urge a review of our policy and that it be taken to secure Vladimir’s release.”

Bill Browder, previously the most important overseas investor in Russia earlier than being exiled by the Putin regime, additionally urged Lord Cameron to rethink the coverage on prisoner swaps with the Kremlin.

“We need Cameron to save Vladimir’s life,” he mentioned. “Vladimir is dying in a Siberian jail, he’s a British citizen and we don’t need one other Navalny scenario, which may now simply be foreseen.

“The overseas secretary ought to have interaction with different allies in organising a prisoner swap for Vladimir earlier than it’s too late.”

On 19 February, regardless of the evident threat to Mr Kara-Murza’s life indicated by Mr Navlany’s demise three days earlier, UK overseas workplace minister Leo Docherty reaffirmed their opposition to prisoner swaps.

“We could not and would not countenance a policy of prisoner swaps but of course we continue to make every effort to support Mrs Kara-Murza and seek the release of Vladimir,” he instructed MPs within the Commons.

For Mrs Kara-Murza, this isn’t adequate. That her assembly will happen simply hours after Mr Navalny’s funeral is proof sufficient of the urgent want to change their coverage.

She mentioned, at least, she hopes to persuade Lord Cameron to create a everlasting group devoted to hostage affairs, to keep away from her having to re-clarify her husband’s plight.

Before Mr Navalny’s demise, Western officers, together with British ones, typically instructed her that Putin wouldn’t kill political prisoners that he had already jailed. They will simply maintain them there, the officers mentioned.

“Well, the day after tomorrow, Alexei Navalny will be buried in Moscow,” she mentioned. “There will likely be a funeral.

“So, I believe, I hope that I don’t want to persuade anybody of the urgency of this. The regime has crossed all of the strains already.”

Meanwhile, the spouse of Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, has described Putin as a “bloody monster” who acts like a mafia godfather as she ready to bury her husband in Moscow on Friday.

In an tackle to the European parliament on Wednesday, she urged western leaders not to deal with the Russian president as a rival politician however as a gangster.

The demise of 47-year-outdated Navalny, who died on February 16 whereas imprisoned in a Soviet-era Arctic penal camp, prompted tons of of Russians throughout the nation to stream to impromptu memorials with flowers and candles.

His explanation for demise continues to be unknown, although his Ms Navalnaya has claimed he was poisoned, whereas supporters and western leaders have mentioned they maintain Putin liable for his demise. The Kremlin has denied these claims.