The winner of the Trustees Award at the 2024 Freedom of Expression Awards talks to Index about her campaigning
EVGENIA KARA-MURZA NEVER expected to become an activist but in 2023, when her husband - antiwar protester and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza - was sentenced to 25 years in a Russian prison, she campaigned tirelessly for his release and for the principles he stood for.
He was kept in a high-security prison in solitary confinement after his detention, but one day last August he was woken at three in the morning.
“At that moment, I was absolutely certain that I was being led out to be executed,” he told the BBC.
In fact, the early wake-up was part of a huge prisoner swap between Russia and Western countries which saw him freed in a deal brokered by Turkey.
Evgenia Kara-Murza, who has been named as the winner of the Trustees Award at the 2024 Freedom of Expression Awards, spoke to Index about her husband’s detention, her campaigning and her vision of the future.
INDEX How did you become an activist?
EVGENIA KARA-MURZA I do not particularly enjoy the public character of my work but, with the criminal invasion of Ukraine and repression in Russia, I believe it is my responsibility as a Russian citizen to do what I can to stop this evil.
INDEX How do you feel about the prisoner swap?
EVGENIA KARA-MURZA On a personal level it all still feels quite surreal. What I think is important to emphasise, though, is the symbolic significance of Russian political prisoners being included in the swap. Thus, Western governments sent a clear message to the Kremlin that they fully realise who the real criminals are and that they think it important to stand with and to fight for the lives of those Russians who are being persecuted.
INDEX Do you think the West needs to do more to oppose Putin?
EVGENIA KARA-MURZA The invasion of Ukraine and widespread repression in Russia are the results of more than two decades of impunity when Western governments, at different times and for different reasons, continuously appeased the dictator by offering him compromises and disregarding gross human rights violations. The free world needs to realise that Putin will not stop until he is stopped - and act accordingly.
ABOVE: Evgenia Kara-Murza and her children talk on the phone to their husband and father, the detained journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza following a prisoner swap with Russia in August 2024.
CREDIT: Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz
INDEX Do you think you and your husband will be able to return?
EVGENIA KARA-MURZA I am absolutely convinced that Vladimir will be one of those who, following the collapse of the regime, will roll up his sleeves to contribute to the rebuilding of the country from scratch and turn it into a functioning democracy.
INDEX If you were detained in prison, which book would you take with you?
EVGENIA KARA-MURZA Choosing a single one would be difficult. My family knows that I cannot go by a bookstore without peeking in - if only to touch book spines.
INDEX Which news headline would you like to see?
EVGENIA KARA-MURZA “The recent parliamentary election in Russia, the first held in the post-Putin era, has been declared free and fair by international observers.”
INDEX What is the future for Russia?
EVGENIA KARA-MURZA Russia in its current state will always be a threat to itself and everyone around, and the only true guarantee of peace and stability on the European continent is a democratic Russia. Millions of people in Russia want their country to be free and peaceful. More than 1,000 people are already behind bars for publicly denouncing the Kremlin’s aggressive policies, and new detentions and arrests are happening daily. These people represent the democratic alternative to the current regime, and the future of Russia greatly depends on whether Vladimir Putin is allowed to destroy this alternative. ✘
