We’ve all heard Donald Trump praise Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.  Just last week, Trump said “how very smart” Putin was. Dictators seem to do well within the Republican Party of today. Dinesh D’Souza said, in a series of tweets, that he “respects Putin because he tenaciously defends his country’s interests and understands the use of power.” I guess that for some it’s easy to think living in such a regime would somehow be an improvement over our semi-democratic republic today.

Vladimir Kara-Murza

But I want you to consider this … today a Russian journalist, Vladimir Kara-Murza, was sentenced to 25 years in prison.  His crime?  He criticized Putin’s regime and the invasion of Ukraine.  For that, he was sentenced to 25 years, but the reality is he will likely never see the light of day again, for Putin’s enemies tend to fall out of high-rise windows, become victims of poisoning, or otherwise meet an untimely demise.  In fact, twice previously Kara-Murza has been mysteriously poisoned … in 2015 and again in 2017.

Kara-Murza has a family – a wife and three young children – and yet he stood for truth, he did what he felt was the right thing to do, to bring the truth, the facts out into the open so that the Russian people would have the opportunity to see clearly what and who Vladimir Putin and his regime are.  In my book, this man is a hero.

What follows is his final statement to the Russian Court:

    Members of the court: I was sure, after two decades spent in Russian politics, after all that I have seen and experienced, that nothing can surprise me anymore. I must admit that I was wrong. I’ve been surprised by the extent to which my trial, in its secrecy and its contempt for legal norms, has surpassed even the “trials” of Soviet dissidents in the 1960s and ’70s. And that’s not even to mention the harshness of the sentence requested by the prosecution or the talk of “enemies of the state.” In this respect, we’ve gone beyond the 1970s — all the way back to the 1930s. For me, as a historian, this is an occasion for reflection.

    At one point during my testimony, the presiding judge reminded me that one of the extenuating circumstances was “remorse for what [the accused] has done.” And although there is little that’s amusing about my present situation, I could not help smiling: The criminal, of course, must repent of his deeds. . . .

    Not only do I not repent of any of this, I am proud of it. . . .

    In their last statements to the court, defendants usually ask for an acquittal. For a person who has not committed any crimes, acquittal would be the only fair verdict. But I do not ask this court for anything. I know the verdict. I knew it a year ago when I saw people in black uniforms and black masks running after my car in the rearview mirror. Such is the price for speaking up in Russia today.

    But I also know that the day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate. When black will be called black and white will be called white; when at the official level it will be recognized that two times two is still four; when a war will be called a war, and a usurper a usurper; and when those who kindled and unleashed this war, rather than those who tried to stop it, will be recognized as criminals.

    This day will come as inevitably as spring follows even the coldest winter. And then our society will open its eyes and be horrified by what terrible crimes were committed on its behalf. From this realization, from this reflection, the long, difficult but vital path toward the recovery and restoration of Russia, its return to the community of civilized countries, will begin.

    Even today, even in the darkness surrounding us, even sitting in this cage, I love my country and believe in our people. I believe that we can walk this path.

To those Americans who would call themselves ‘patriots’ because they helped try to overturn the 2020 election or because they carry a maga flag and chant trumpisms, take a lesson from Mr. Kara-Murza, for he is the true definition of the word ‘patriot.’  In October 2022, Kara-Murza was awarded the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize.