Russians prepare on Wednesday for national holiday 'Russian Day', which is marked on 12 June, Moscow. Photo: EPA/Sergei Ilnitsky
The EFA, which is chaired by Polish director Agnieszka Holland, noted that “there has not been any official information about the charges brought against him for almost three weeks.”
Senstov was arrested at his house in Simferopol, Crimea, on 11 May by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB).
It is understood that he was taken to Moscow where he is awaiting trial.
Sentsov had supported the Kiev protests in Independence Square that brought down former president Viktor Yanukovych's regime, and he later opposed Russia's annexation of Crimea in March.
“We, his undersigning European colleagues, are deeply worried and cannot stop wondering how he is and what his future will be,” the film-makers wrote.
The signatories have called upon Russian authorities to “ensure the safety of Oleg Sentsov, to make public the whereabouts of the detained, to have the detained charged with a recognisable offence or released” and “to instigate a full, prompt and impartial investigation into the apparently arbitrary detention by the FSB in order to bring all those responsible to justice.”
The letter was also sent to the chairman of the State Duma, the director of the FSB, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Minister of Culture and the Prosecutor General.
Besides Agnieszka Holland, the letter was signed by Polish EFA board-members and film-makers Andrzej Wajda, Jerzy Stuhr, Wojciech Marczewski and Krzysztof Zanussi, as well as other members including Pedro Almodovar, Ken Loach and Mike Leigh.
Oleg Sentsov directed the well-received 2011 movie Gamer, which was shown at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and the Sao Paulo International Film Festival. (nh)
Source: europeanfilmacademy.org