KYIV – Supporters of Crimean film director Oleh Sentsov held a rally on August 25 in the Ukrainian capital to mark two years since his conviction in Russia following a trial that has drawn international condemnation.
The Kyiv-based Solidarity Committee organized a picket in front of the Russian Embassy in Kyiv to express support for Mr. Sentsov and his co-defendant, Oleksandr Kolchenko.
Over a dozen activists held placards saying, “Those in freedom, let us help political prisoners” and “For your freedom and ours.”
The demonstrators also urged passers-by to send their letters of support to Mr. Sentsov and Mr. Kolchenko by mail.
Activists planned another rally in the southwestern city of Odesa that day to call for the release of inmates who are “victims of the Kremlin’s anti-Ukrainian campaign and are in Russia’s prisons on fabricated charges.”
“Come, your participation is important because at least 46 citizens of Ukraine remain hostages of the Russians!” the organizers said on Facebook.
A Russian court convicted Messrs. Sentsov and Kolchenko on August 25, 2015, of conspiring to commit terrorism in the Crimea region, which Russia seized in March 2014 after sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced by 100 countries as illegitimate.
They were sentenced to prison terms of 20 years and 10 years, respectively.
Both have consistently denied the accusations, with Mr. Sentsov, who has opposed Russia’s takeover of Crimea, saying that a “trial by occupiers cannot be fair by definition.”
The trial of Messrs. Sentsov and Kolchenko was described by international rights groups as politically motivated, and politicians, officials, film directors, and other artists have called for their release.
PEN America announced in March that it will honor Mr. Sentsov with its 2017 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, saying the charges against him “have been condemned by human rights groups as fabrications by a Russian government intent on silencing dissent.”
It said Mr. Sentsov is widely regarded for work that includes two short films – “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” and “The Horn of a Bull” – and a full-length feature film, “Gamer,” that debuted to acclaim at the 2012 International Film Festival in Rotterdam.
His writings include scripts, plays and essays, and he has continued to produce prolifically from prison, a statement said.
Rights activists say Russia has jailed a number of Ukrainians on trumped-up, politically motivated charges since Moscow seized control of Crimea in 2014.
In March, the European Parliament called on Russia to free more than 30 Ukrainian citizens who were in prison or other conditions of restricted freedom in Russia, Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia-backed separatists.
Copyright 2017, RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington DC 20036; www.rferl.org (see https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-sentsov-two-year-anniversary-conviction-russia-crimea/28696309.html).