Oleg Sentsov

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File:Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian political prisoner in Russia, 2015.JPG
Oleg Sentsov

Oleg Gennadyevich Sentsov (Ukrainian: Олег Геннадійович Сенцов, Russian: Олег Геннадьевич Сенцов) is a Ukrainian filmmaker, best known for his 2011 film Gamer. He was arrested in May 2014 by the Russian Federal Security Service on suspicion of plotting terrorist acts in Crimea;[1] Sentsov was sentenced to 20 years in jail in August 2015.

Biography

Sentsov was born in 1976 in Simferopol, Ukraine.[2] He was an economics student in Kyiv and took courses in film directing and screenwriting in Moscow.[2] His first two short movies were A Perfect Day for Bananafish (2008) and The Horn of a Bull (2009).[2] Gamer, his first feature, debuted at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2012.[1][2] Its success in this and other festivals helped him secure funding for the forthcoming feature Rhino, production on which was postponed due to his work with the Euromaidan protest movement.[3] It was scheduled to begin shooting in the summer of 2014.[4]

After the November 2013 breakout of the Euromaidan protests Sentsov became an activist of "AutoMaidan" and during the 2014 Crimean crisis he helped deliver food and supplies to Ukrainian servicemen trapped in their Crimean bases.[1] Sentsov stated that he did not recognize the Russian annexation of Crimea and the "Russian Federation military seizure of the Crimea".[5][nb 1]

Arrest and trial

Arrest and detention

Sentsov was arrested on 11 May 2014 in Crimea on suspicion of "plotting terrorist acts".[1][5] With Gennady Afanasyev, Alexei Chirnigo, and Alexander Kolchenko,[9] he became one of four Ukrainian citizens held by Russia's Federal Security Service, who accused them of seeking to carry out terrorist attacks on bridges, power lines, and public monuments in the Crimean cities Simferopol, Yalta, and Sevastopol.[1] These charges are punishable with up to 20 years in prison.[1]

After holding Sentsov without charges for three weeks,[10] the Federal Security Service accused the four Ukrainians of being "part of a terrorist community, to carry out explosions with home-made devices on May 9, 2014 near the Eternal Flame memorial and Lenin monument in Simferopol and to set fire to the offices of the Russian Community of Crimea public organization and the United Russia party branch in Simferopol on April 14 and April 18, 2014".[9] Sentsov, Afanasyev, Chirnigo and Kolchenko were also accused of membership in Ukraine's nationalist paramilitary group, Right Sector, a claim that both Sentsov and Right Sector denied.[1][5][9] Russian prosecutors stated that Sentsov confessed to the terrorist plots.[1] But the filmmaker and his lawyer, Dmitry Dinze, who defended Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, denied this and he and Sentsov himself have stated that Sentsov was beaten and threatened with rape to force his confession.[1][5] According to Sentsov's lawyers, investigators refused to open a case on his allegations of torture, suggesting that his bruises were self-inflicted and that he was keen on sado-masochism.[11]

Starting on 19 May 2014, Sentsov was detained in Moscow's Lefortovo prison.[1][9] On 26 June 2014 Russia's presidential council for human rights appealed to Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin to review the circumstances surrounding the arrests of Sentsov and a fellow Ukrainian activist, ecologist Oleksandr Kolchenko.[1] A reply, posted on the council's website, stated prosecutors found "no grounds" for altering the detention of either suspect.[1] On 7 July 2014 Sentsov's arrest was extended to 11 October.[4] In October 2014 his arrest was again extended to 11 January 2015.[12]

Ukrainian authorities were banned by their Russian counterparts to contact or help Sentsov.[13] According to Sentsov he has been deprived of his citizenship of Ukraine.[5]

Trial

On 21 July 2015, Sentsov went on trial for terrorism in Russia among international outcry and an open letter by prominent European film directors Pedro Almodóvar, Ken Loach, Béla Tarr, and Wim Wenders.[14]

The main witness for the prosecution, Gennady Afanasyev, retracted his testimony in court on 31 July, saying it was given under duress.[15][16]

On 25 August 2015, a Russian court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Sentsov to 20 years in prison.[11][17] He was then imprisoned in Yakutsk.[18]

Reactions

Ukraine

According to the Ombudsperson of Ukraine Valeriya Lutkovska, the decision of the Rostov court towards Ukrainians Oleh Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko constitutes discrimination on national origin.[19]

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, in a statement on its website, called the trial "a judicial farce".[20]

Russia

On 26 June 2014 Russia's Presidential Council for Human Rights appealed to Deputy Prosecutor General Viktor Grin to review the circumstances surrounding the arrests of Sentsov and fellow activist Oleksandr Kolchenko.[1] A reply, posted on the council's website, stated prosecutors found "no grounds" for altering the detention of either suspect.[1]

Several major Russian filmmakers expressed their support, including Nikita Mikhalkov and Andrey Zvyagintsev.[20][21]

The Human Rights Center Memorial has declared that Sentsov and Kolchenko are political prisoners in Russia.[22]

International

The European Union and the United States condemned Sentsov's detention and called for his release.[14][23]

The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini stated that "the EU considers the case to be in breach of international law and elementary standards of justice."[24]

Western governments, Amnesty International, and European Film Academy deputy chairman Mike Downey described the proceedings as a show trial.[15][25][26][27]

The United States called the sentencing a "miscarriage of justice", stating that "Mr. Sentsov and Mr. Kolchenko were targeted by authorities because of their opposition to Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea." Saying that Sentsov and Kolchenko were "taken hostage on Ukrainian territory", it called upon the Russian Federation to "implement the commitments it made in signing the Minsk agreements by immediately releasing Oleh Sentsov, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Nadia Savchenko, and all other remaining hostages".[28]

The German government's special envoy for human rights and humanitarian affairs said in a statement that he was "shaken" by the severity of the sentences and urged Russia to comply with Council of Europe norms for the humane treatment of prisoners.[20]

European directors Agnieszka Holland, Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, and Pedro Almodóvar co-signed a 10 June 2014 letter by the European Film Academy to Russian authorities, demanding that the charges against Sentsov be dropped and the allegations of torture investigated.[1][3][29] Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf dedicated his acceptance of the 2015 Robert Bresson Prize of the Venice Film Festival to Sentsov, calling the conviction a "major injustice" and the sentence "a move to intimidate all Russian society, especially the intellectuals and artists."[30]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Since Ukraine lost the control over the peninsula to Russia in March 2014 the status of the Crimea and of the city of Sevastopol is under dispute between Russia and Ukraine; Ukraine and the majority of the international community consider the Crimea to be an autonomous republic of Ukraine and Sevastopol to be one of Ukraine's cities with special status, while Russia, on the other hand, considers the Crimea to be a federal subject of Russia and Sevastopol to be one of Russia's three federal cities.[6][7][8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Ukrainian Filmmaker Remains Behind Bars Despite Growing Support , Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (June 26, 2014)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 (Dutch) Short Bio, International Film Festival Rotterdam
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and others call for release of Ukrainian director, The Guardian (10 June 2014)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 (Ukrainian) The Court extended the arrest in Moscow Ukrainian director, Ukrayinska Pravda (7 July 2014)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 (Ukrainian) Oleg Sentsov: I was tortured and humiliated, Ukrayinska Pravda (7 July 2014)
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Ukraine crisis timeline, BBC News
  8. ↑ UN General Assembly adopts resolution affirming Ukraine's territorial integrity, China Central Television (28 March 2014)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Ukrainian film director Sentsov to remain in custody - Moscow City Court, Interfax-Ukraine (8 August 2014)
  10. ↑ For Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov, a battle with no end in sight, Los Angeles Times (16 July 2014)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Russia Jails Ukraine Director Sentsov on Terror Charges. 2015. BBC (August 25).
  12. ↑ Ukraine film director Sentsov to stay in custody, Interfax-Ukraine (24.10.2014)
  13. ↑ (Ukrainian) Russia does not even because of arrested Ukrainian director Sentsov, Ukrayinska Pravda (20 June 2014)
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Ukrainian Filmmaker Tells Russian Court He Will "Suffer or Die" for His Beliefs. The Guardian (19 August).
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Oleh Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko are acknowledged as citizens of Ukraine, Ukraine Today (24 March 2016)
  19. ↑ Lutkovska sees in the Sentsov's case a discrimination on national origin. Ukrinform. 4 September 2015
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ US calls on Russia to immediately release detained Ukrainian citizens Savchenko and Sentsov, Interfax Ukraine (18.10.2014)
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Controversial Trial of Ukrainian Filmmaker Closes in Russia. 2015. The Telegraph (August 19).
  26. ↑ Ovcharuk, Bogdan. 2015. "The System Does Not Forgive" – Crimean Activists Hauled before a Russian Military Court. Amnesty International (August 10).
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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