A dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Russia, Vladimir Kara-Murza, has disappeared from a jail in Siberia which could mean a sign that Vladimir Putin is preparing for a rumoured prisoner swap with the West.
According to reports, several more Russian dissidents and others imprisoned for resisting Putin’s dictatorship have gone missing in recent days.
According to reports, Russian prison service, FSIN, said Kara-Murza was being transferred from the IK-6 penal colony in Omsk but did not say where the UK citizen was being taken.
Mr. Kara-Murza’s lawyer Vadim Prokhorov wrote on Facebook: “Today a lawyer for Vladimir Kara-Murza for a second day running was not allowed to visit him in a prison hospital. The exact location of the political prisoner is unknown.”
Kara-Murza, 42, is serving a 25-year sentence in Siberia for treason and other charges which the UK government has said is politically motivated.
Prior to his arrest, Kara-Murza had been a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the crackdown on dissent in the country as well as the ongoing war in Ukraine.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the lawyer was told he could not visit his client because he was having a medical examination, Prokhorov said, describing it as a “gross violation”.
Kara-Murza is scheduled to have a public court hearing Thursday in Omsk over a legal appeal and his defence team are demanding he be allowed to take part via video link.
