Poland wants release of Ukrainian filmmaker from Russian prison camp
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
27.07.2018 12:11
Poland, the US and a number of other countries are to appeal for the release of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who is on hunger strike in a Russian prison camp, Polish Radio reported.
Oleg Sentsov. Photo: Antonymon/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
A draft of the appeal includes a declaration that Sentsov is being held illegally and that Moscow has ignored international calls for his release.
Officials from Poland and other countries are to send their appeal to Russia's human rights ombudsman, its general prosecutor, and the country's justice, foreign and interior ministries.
Forty-one-year-old Sentsov was sentenced to 20 years in a prison camp in 2015.
He was found guilty of setting fire to two offices in Crimea, including one belonging to Russia’s ruling party, and of plotting to blow up a statue, the Reuters news agency reported.
But human rights activists claim the charges were trumped up and that the trial was fixed, state broadcaster Polish Radio's IAR news agency reported.
Reuters reported that Sentsov said his trial was politically motivated.
The European Union said the case was “in breach of international law” and the US State Department called it a “clear miscarriage of justice”, Reuters added.
Sentsov has been on hunger strike since mid-May. He is demanding the release of all Ukrainians detained in Russia, IAR reported. (vb/pk)
Source: IAR