Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

In April this year, Vladimir Kara-Murza, a leading opposition member, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in Russia. The charges of which he has been convicted are described as treason, spreading false information about the Russian army and being affiliated with an undesirable organisation. I stand to draw this to the attention of this place and the Australian parliament in my capacity as the member for Macnamara and a friend of Bill Browder, who has been a central figure in the movement to enact global Magnitsky justice legislation. It is another regrettable example of Russia's rejection of democracy and human rights. Instead of acting as a responsible global citizen, we have seen years of behaviour by Russia, a member of the United Nations Security Council, that disregards the foundations of the global rules based order, culminating in its illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.

But, within its borders, Russia continues to perpetrate state actions that undermine basic rights and freedoms. Kara-Murza, sadly, joins many others who have been imprisoned for speaking out against the Russian government. These include opposition leader Alexei Navalny and others such as Alexei Gorinov and Ilya Yashin, all of whom are presently incarcerated for articulating their position on the invasion of Ukraine and for their commitment to a free and open Russia.

In 2020, Kara-Murza gave evidence to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade in their inquiry into targeted sanctions to address human rights abuses. He was a critical voice amongst many who advocated for the establishment of a Magnitsky-style sanctions regime in Australian law. This inquiry helped to develop a consensus across the parliament, and eventually the former government initiated legislation, which passed in 2021, to strengthen Australia's sanctions regime. Australia continues to use targeted financial sanctions and trade measures, currently numbering over 1,100, including Magnitsky sanctions, to undermine and hold Russia to account for its aggression against Ukraine.

Kara-Murza and so many other figures in Russia have been imprisoned or targeted for exercising their rights, rights that we often take for granted. It is vital that we use our rights and our platforms to support people fighting for democratic freedoms, wherever they are. I close my remarks today by echoing the words of Mr Kara-Murza as he was sentenced in court in Moscow: 'I know the day will come when the darkness over our country will be gone; when the war will be called a war and the usurper will be called a usurper; when those who have ignited this war will be called criminals, instead of those who tried to stop it. And then our people will open their eyes and shudder at the sight of the horrific crimes committed in their names.'

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