Last year, on June 1-3, 2018, a worldwide campaign to call for the release of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov from a Russian penal colony located above the Arctic Circle was held across at least three continents in over three-dozen cities. The rallies were timed to precede the beginning of the quadrennial World Cup soccer tournament, hosted that year by Russia. (The month-long tournament began on June 14.)
Led by a coalition of advocacy groups like Let My People Go and Save Oleg Sentsov, thousands took to the streets to draw attention to the plight of the 41-year-old Crimea native who opposed Russia’s annexation of Crimea and continues to serve a 20-year prison sentence on what human rights groups said were trumped-up charges of terrorism. Mr. Sentsov is among nearly 70 other Ukrainian political prisoners held by Russia. He is considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and Russia’s Memorial organization.
At the time, he was on a hunger strike that lasted 145 days and ultimately ended due to his deteriorating health and the threat of force-feeding. Mr. Sentsov had been arrested in May 2014 and convicted in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, in August 2015.
The PEN America organization sent a letter on June 1 to President Vladimir Putin calling for the “immediate and unconditional release” of Mr. Sentsov and asserted that he was “wrongfully imprisoned.”
Harlem Desir, chief for freedom of media for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, on June 4 urged Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov to re-examine Mr. Sentsov’s case. “I call on the Russian authorities to review Sentsov’s case and to release him immediately. His continued detention is unjustified and creates a strong chilling effect for those in Crimea who have the right to express their views and opinions freely. His voice should not be silenced, no matter how critical.”
In Kyiv on Independence Square, President Petro Poroshenko addressed the crowds on June 3 prior to his official trip to Spain. Via Facebook, Mr. Poroshenko denounced the Kremlin’s “lawlessness and totalitarian methods.” Protests were held in 15 other cities, including Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytsky, Lutsk, Berdyansk, Kremenchuk, Sumy, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Kherson, Ostroh, Mykolayiv, Chernihiv and elsewhere in the country.
In Chicago, some 150 protesters rallied in front of the Chicago Tribune tower on Michigan Avenue on June 3. Marta Farion, speaking on behalf of the Illinois Division of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, addressed the crowd; “We are here to stand for Sentsov and all the political prisoners held by Putin… and we demand his release along with his colleagues… We see how history is repeating itself as the world looks on. We must stand in the way to this abuse.”
Statements of support for Mr. Sentsov were delivered by UCCA President Andriy Futey and Executive Vice-President Michael Sawkiw, director of the Ukrainian National Information Service.
In New York, several dozen demonstrators gathered at Astor Place near the “Alamo” sculpture, known as “The Cube” on June 2. Protesters chanted the slogan “Save Oleh Sentsov” and highlighted the cases of more than 70 other Ukrainian political prisoners held by Russia. The event was organized by Razom for Ukraine.
In Canada, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress staged at least eight rallies in Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia; Edmonton and Calgary in Alberta; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Toronto; and Montreal. Ihor Michalchyshyn, chief executive officer for the UCC, was pleased to see the rallies and public actions that were organized on short notice and took place from coast to coast.
In Russia, protests were held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and while no arrests were made in Moscow, at least two were arrested in St. Petersburg.
In Australia, protests were held in Sydney and Melbourne, where the largest Ukrainian communities are based. The Princess Olha branch of the Ukrainian Women’s Association in Sydney collected signatures in support of Mr. Sentsov, and they noted the overwhelming support from the crowd.
Tweets were found about rallies in Warsaw and Krakow, Poland; Milan, Italy; Tel-Aviv, Israel; Bonn, Germany; Geneva, Switzerland; Marseille and Paris, France; Vienna, Austria; and Athens, Greece. Facebook posts showed events held in Toulouse, Lyon and Strasbourg, France; Vilnius and Kaunas, Lithuania; Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich and Leipzig, Germany; Naples, Italy; Tallinn, Estonia; Gdansk, Poland; Stockholm, Sweden; Lisbon, Portugal; Prague, the Czech Republic; as well as Washington, D.C., and Ottawa, Ontario.
Source: “Global rallies for release of Sentsov held ahead of World Cup in Russia,” by Mark Raczkiewycz (with contributions by Marta Farion in Chicago, Ihor Michalchyshyn in Ottawa and Roma Hadzewycz in Parsippany, N.J.), The Ukrainian Weekly, June 10, 2018.