(OTTAWA) An all-party group of MPs and senators hopes to grant honorary Canadian citizenship to Russian political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza in the coming weeks.
“He embodies the movement for a democratic Russia,” Ontario Senator Ratna Omidvar said at a press conference Thursday, which was joined by representatives from most Senate parties and groups.
Mr. Kara-Murza is a prominent Russian journalist and activist, close to Boris Nemstov, anti-Putin opposition leader assassinated in 2015.
In April 2022, Russian authorities arrested Mr. Kara-Murza and charged him with “deliberately spreading false information” about the invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow prohibits from calling a war.
Former Attorney General Irwin Cotler alleges Kara-Murza was poisoned twice upon his return to Russia after testifying in Canada about changes to Ottawa’s sanctions regime that have resulted in a tougher stance against the Russian government.
Honorary citizenship, Cotler explained, would lend support to any Russians detained for speaking out against the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Russian human rights group OVD-Info claiming that more than 20,000 people belong to this category.
“He is the personification of justice, the embodiment of the fight for democracy,” said Mr. Cotler. We will honor all of those cases and causes he championed so courageously, which reflect and represent Canadian values. »
He said both houses could pass motions asking Ottawa to grant honorary citizenship, or the government could make that decision unilaterally.
Quebec Sen. Pierre Dalphond said he plans to table a motion as soon as all Senate groups have been consulted about it, hoping it will pass with unanimous consent.
Liberal MP John McKay said the senior ranks of government support the motion.
“We have all parties on our side, we have reviewed the various ministers who would be affected, and they are on our side. We are now at the point of the leadership of the House, which will hopefully give unanimous consent to a motion or something similar, ”he said.
The Toronto MP said Kara-Murza was one of the best hopes for Russia becoming a democratic country.
“For him, for us and for the Russian people, I sincerely hope that he will survive to see a change of direction in the government in Russia,” he said.
At a press conference on Thursday, the decision was endorsed by MPs from the Liberal, NDP, Bloc and Green parties, who said they also had the backing of a Conservative MP who planned to join them, but did not couldn’t do it.
The Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, founded by Mr Cotler, released a letter on Wednesday saying honorary citizenship would give Mr Kara-Murza “vital protective cover as he languishes in prison”. .
The letter was signed by 30 prominent Canadians, including former Prime Minister Kim Campbell and former Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.
Parliamentarians last voted in 2014 to grant honorary citizenship, and Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai accepted the honor three years later in Ottawa.
Mr. Cotler said Mr. Kara-Murza should be released under Russian law because he suffers from polyneuropathy, a nerve condition that causes health problems.
“His detention is a form of torture, if not a slow execution. And that’s why we need to move forward with deliberate speed,” said Cotler.
In a message Tuesday from Vodnik prison in Moscow, Kara-Murza thanked his supporters for their continued attention.
“Your messages and letters that I receive from all over the world have filled my cell with warmth and light,” he wrote. Everything will be alright. There will be peace in Ukraine and freedom in Russia – because in the end the truth always comes out stronger. »
Parliamentarians are not claiming the same honor for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which Cotler says is because Kara-Murza has stronger ties to Canada.