has survived two poisonings, was arrested nearly one year ago today after criticizing russia s invasion of ukraine, and he has been imprisoned ever since. outfront now with us in guinea, a kara murza, the wife of vladimir kara murza, yevgenia, thank you so much for joining us. you call this sentence of 25 years in prison, a high recognition of the effectiveness of vladimir s work vladimir s work, and that is legendary. kara murza. you re talking about your husband, speaking out against the kremlin and this war. this is a sentence out of fear. you say, what is it that you believe the regime fears? good evening, bianna. thank you very much for inviting me here. well putin s regime is built on lights and the thing it here s the most is the truth. and hence total censorship of the media. hence the use of repression against free voices that keep telling the truth, despite all odds they refused to be
as to their effect, i don t believe that they will change the outcome of the trial. but i do believe that these sanctions send a very clear signal to the russian authorities that the situation with human rights in russia is being watched and that the free world is concerned about human rights violations happening in russia. and i am very grateful for that attention. all right, well, evgenia, we are grateful to you for joining us. thank you. thank you very much. and, next, our first closeup look at the bullet-riddled van driven by four americans who have been kidnapped in mexico. u.s. officials believe a mexican cartel is behind the attack. we re learning more details tonight about that and the missing americans. we ll share that with you after this. plus, florida republicans echoing ron desantis, introducing bill after bill targeting what can and cannot be taught in classrooms. the bill prohibits classroom
and there is also belarus. that s very much involved as well, because the number of political prisoners in belarus is growing just as quickly as it does in russia. but if i may, if i may, evgenia, you raised a very interesting point about what is going on inside russia. and i m very mindful that when vladimir went back, you know, in the six weeks, two months after the invasion of ukraine, he said it would be, to use his word, cowardly, not to be side by side with those brave russians who were protesting the war. and at the time, it is true that there were thousands of russians in different towns and cities who were prepared to go to the streets and voice their opposition. but we, frankly, see very little of that today. and i m just wondering whether you, as an activist yourself, who fights for democracy in russia and whether vladimir too, whether actually you are deeply disappointed with what has
effectively neutralised meaningful opposition? evgenia kara murza in washington, dc, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for having me here. it s a pleasure to have you on the show, and i must begin by asking you about the condition of your husband, vladimir. he s been imprisoned in russia since last april. what can you tell me about his current condition? he s still being held at moscow s fifth pre trial detention centre, where
hospitals. there are organisations like memorial or 0vd info or mediazona or others, who raise awareness about mass political persecution in russia and about the methods used by the regime against protesters. right. and i believe that those are the things that show that, yes, there are no mass protests, it s true. whether i would like to see them in the streets, of course i would. of course i would. i would love to see millions in the streets. and i hope that those people are just waiting to see an opportunity for a change. right. now, in the meantime. erm. in the meantime, evgenia, much of your work is focused, of necessity, outside of russia, particularly in the united states, where you ve had a whole series of meetings with congressmen and women, you ve been in europe, you ve talked to uk