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Rubio Comments on Hospitalization of Russian Dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza

Feb 2, 2017 | Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statement today regarding Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, who for the second time in two years was hospitalized with a mysterious illness:

“Earlier this week, I stood on the Senate floor and said that at that very moment, political dissidents and journalists were being silenced and targeted for murder in Russia. Today, it appears one of those targets might be Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has been hospitalized after mysteriously falling gravely ill. Vladimir Putin does not deserve any benefit of the doubt here, given how commonplace political assassinations and poisonings have become under his regime. I am praying that Kara-Murza’s condition improves, and I urge the Trump Administration, including Secretary of State Tillerson, to make Kara-Murza’s cause America’s cause, question Russian authorities about this, and ultimately hold Putin accountable if he was targeted by the regime.”

During Tillerson’s confirmation hearing last month, Rubio mentioned Kara-Murza’s mysterious illness in 2015, which was thought to be a result of poisoning. Rubio also submitted into the official Congressional Record a letter Kara-Murza sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as it considered Tillerson’s nomination.

 

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