Russian court sentences Ukrainian filmmaker to 20 years
A Russian court convicted a prominent Ukrainian filmmaker on
Tuesday of conspiring to commit terror attacks and sentenced him to 20 years in
prison in what critics called a politically motivated show trial.
The court in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don said Oleg
Sentsov had set up a terror cell in the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed
last year, and was plotting attacks. He will serve time in a maximum-security
prison, reports AP.
Such lengthy prison sentences are rare in Russia even for
politically tainted trials.
Sentsov was tried along with local activist Alexander
Kolchenko who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. As the judge wrapped up the
session, the two men began to sing the Ukrainian national anthem.
The 39-year-old Crimean native was a vocal opponent of
Russia's 2014 annexation of the peninsula. Critics have dismissed his
prosecution as retaliation for his pro-Ukrainian position.
"The whole trial was designed to send a message. It
played into Russia's propaganda war against Ukraine and was redolent of
Stalinist-era show trials of dissidents," said Heather McGill of Amnesty
International.
Sentsov, who didn't apply for Russian citizenship, was
grabbed on a street in Crimea's capital in May 2014 by Russian security
officers and resurfaced days later in custody in Moscow. Sentsov had pleaded not
guilty and insisted that a Russian court had no jurisdiction in his case.
Russian prosecutors claim both men were plotting to blow up
a Lenin monument and were behind attempts to burn down offices of two
Russia-related organizations.
Dozens of prominent filmmakers, including Russian Golden
Globe winner Andrei Zvyagintsev, have petitioned the Kremlin to release
Sentsov.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on his Facebook page
sent a message of support for Sentsov.
"Hang in there, Oleg," he wrote. "A time will
come when those who set this trial for you will land in the dock."
Britain called the trial politically motivated. British
Minister for Europe David Lidington said the charges were
"disproportionate" and voiced concern that the two men did not have
access to a fair trial.
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