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Kara-Murza, a 41-year-old opposition politician who holds both
Russian and British passports, spoke out against President
Vladimir Putin for years and had successfully lobbied Western
governments to impose sanctions on Moscow and individual
Russians for purported human rights violations.
Kara-Murza has said his sentencing - the harshest of its kind
since Russia invaded Ukraine last February - was politically
motivated.
"Russia's treatment and conviction of Vladimir Kara-Murza once
again demonstrates its utter contempt for basic human rights,"
British foreign minister James Cleverly said.
"The UK will continue to support Mr Kara-Murza and his family. I
call on Russia to release him immediately and unconditionally."
Britain imposed sanctions on Elena Lenskaya, a judge who it said
had approved Kara-Murza's arrest, and two investigators involved
in the arrest - Denis Kolesnikov and Andrei Zadachin.
Twice, in 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza fell suddenly ill in what he
said were poisonings by the Russian security services.
The new British sanctions also target two agents at Russia's FSB
security service - Alexander Samofal and Konstantin Kudryavtsev
- who it said were involved in poisonings. Russian authorities
have denied involvement in any poisionings.
Britain, along with other Western countries, has condemned the
sentencing of Kara-Murza. This criticism prompted Russia to
summon the British, U.S. and Canadian ambassadors for a dressing
down on Tuesday.
All santioned individuals will be subject to British travel bans
and asset freezes, a type of sanction which limits financial
dealings by UK entities with those sanctioned.
(Reporting by Muvija M, writing by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by
Michael Holden and Gareth Jones)
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