Kara-Mursa thanks Scholz and brands Putin as a "murderer"
Yesterday, 16 lives were saved, Kara-Mursa emphasized beforehand. "I don't believe there's anything more important in the world." The 42-year-old added that he wanted to "thank all the people in Germany who have been and continue to advocate for the release of political prisoners."
"I feel like I'm in a movie: Yesterday, I was still in detention, and today, I'm at the beautiful banks of the Rhine in Bonn," Kara-Mursa described his state of mind after his release on Thursday. "It's all very surreal." He had been sure that he "would die in Putin's prison and never see my family again."
At the same time, Kara-Mursa made it clear that he continues his resistance against Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin chief is "a dictator, an usurper, and a murderer," responsible for the death of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in Russian detention, among others, and for the deaths of numerous Ukrainian children.
As he boarded the plane to Ankara, one of the employees of the Russian internal security service FSB, who accompanied the prisoner exchange, told him that he would see his homeland for the last time. He replied: "We will all return to Russia. The day will come when Russia will be free - a normal country, a civilized country, a European country." He had "no doubt" about this, said Kara-Mursa.
Russia and its ally Belarus, on one side, and Germany, the USA, and three other NATO countries, on the other, completed the prisoner exchange on Thursday afternoon in the Turkish capital Ankara. Russia released 15 prisoners, including four with German citizenship.
The release of a German initially sentenced to death in Belarus and later pardoned was also achieved. According to Russian reports, eight Russian prisoners and two minors were flown back to Russia in exchange.
Russian authorities had arrested Kara-Mursa in April 2022 after he accused Russia of "war crimes" against Ukraine in a speech in the USA. In April 2023, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. This was one of the longest sentences ever imposed on a critic of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
The 42-year-old suffers from a nervous system disorder. According to his statements, this is the result of several poisonings. Investigations by media such as "Der Spiegel" and "Bellingcat" support Kara-Mursa's claims of poisoning.
The European Parliament can provide assistance to the Commission in its endeavors. Kara-Mursa expressed his gratitude towards the people in Germany who have been advocating for the release of political prisoners, which was facilitated by the recent prisoner exchange.
