House, Senate Vote to Give Russian Dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza Honorary Citizenship

Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza sits on a bench inside a defendants' cage during a hearing at the Basmanny court in Moscow on Oct. 10, 2022. Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images

Parliament is bestowing honorary Canadian citizenship on jailed Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza.

The Senate voted Tuesday night to recognize the prominent Russian journalist and activist, following a House of Commons vote last Thursday.

Kara-Murza, a prominent journalist and activist who has helped lead a political party in Russia, was charged in April 2022 with “spreading deliberately false information” about the invasion of Ukraine.

Before the war, he had testified in Canada to help MPs and senators reform Ottawa’s sanctions regime to take a tougher stance against the Russian government.

The honorary designation is symbolic, and the government insists it does not bestow the benefits of normal citizenship, such as consular services.

Parliamentarians last voted to grant someone honorary citizenship in 2014, when they recognized Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai.