Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to facilitate the release of Vladimir Kara-Murza.

We condemn the politically motivated sentencing of Vladimir Kara-Murza, and continue to call for his release. On the day of Mr Kara-Murza's sentencing, we summoned the Russian Ambassador to the FCDO and pressed him on Mr Kara-Murza's release and respect of his fundamental human rights. We have maintained pressure on Russia, sanctioning 5 individuals relating to Mr Kara-Murza's detention and treatment in April. We will continue to raise Mr. Kara-Murza's case with the Russian authorities both in London and Moscow, and call for his release in multilateral fora, as the Foreign Secretary did before the UN Human Rights Council in February.