Lawyer Vadim Prokhorov, who defended Kara-Murza, Yashin and Nemtsov, left Russia due to the threat of a criminal case

Lawyer Vadim Prokhorov, in an interview with Voice of America , said that he left Russia a few days before the sentencing of his client, oppositionist Vladimir Kara-Murza. He explained this by saying that he was threatened with criminal charges.

“Both the prosecutor and the judge in the [trial] trial, for various reasons, stated that [I] needed not only to be expelled from the bar, but also to consider the issue of initiating a criminal case,” Prokhorov said. “I also received a warning through one of the politicians about possible interest from at least one of the deputy prosecutors general, who is in charge of our case.”

“Now in Russia there is an attack not only on journalists, as before on politicians, but also on lawyers. Some of my colleagues are already in prison,” he added.

On April 17, Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in a maximum security colony. Because of his public appearances, the politician was accused of spreading “fake news” about the actions of the military in Ukraine (clause “e” of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code), of participating in the work of an “undesirable organization” and treason (Part 1 of Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code and Article 275 of the Criminal Code ).

Kara-Murza himself in his last word connected the persecution with the fact that he contributed to the adoption of personal sanctions under the “Magnitsky Law” against Russian officials who violated human rights.

to 8.5 years in prison in the case of military “fakes In addition to him, Vadim Prokhorov also defended oppositionist Ilya Yashin, who was sentenced , magazine ” The New Times Evgenia Albats and represented the interests of the family of politician Boris Nemtsov as part of the investigation of his murder.