Radio Liberty: Human Rights Activist Kara-Murza Urges U.S. President to Raise Issue of Political Prisoners with Russian President During Upcoming Summit, Cites Plight of Alexey Pichugin
July 3, 2018
Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of a UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva earlier this week, human rights activist Vladimir Kara-Murza urged U.S. President Donald Trump “to be tough with his Russian counterpart during an upcoming summit and use the occasion to discuss political prisoners held by Moscow.”
Kara-Murza warned against an accommodating stance towards a regime that has been using “the judicial system as a tool of political persecution” against more people than during the late Soviet years.
Alexey Pichugin, on whose behalf Kara-Murza spoke out before the UN Human Rights Council on July 2nd has been wrongfully imprisoned for more than 15 years to date, making him Russia’s longest-serving prisoner.
Mr. Trump would have the opportunity to raise the issue during a meeting with the Russian President scheduled for July 16 in Helsinki, Finland.
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