Sentsov must submit pardon request himself, Kremlin claims

In response to a request for a pardon submitted by the
mother of Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, the Russian Presidential
Administration sent a letter to her insisting that a written request must come
from Sentsov himself, the radiosvoboda.org news site reported on Aug. 14. It
stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin must grant the pardon. In
response, Sentsov’s sister said that Oleg won’t write such a request. Iryna
Gerashchenko, Ukraine’s representative to the Trilateral Contact Group on
humanitarian issues, said the Kremlin’s claims are false, citing the recent
case of political prisoner Nadia Savhcenko, who did not ask for the pardon that
had been granted by Putin.

Sentsov enters the 94th day of his hunger strike
today, being fed only with an intravenous tube and nutritional meal. He told his
lawyer on Aug. 14 that his condition is near critical. The same day, Ukraine’s
Foreign Ministry repeated the call for his immediate release, as well as the
release of “more than 70 Kremlin hostages.”

Sentsov wa convicted by the Russian government in August
2015 and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for allegedly planning terrorist
acts in Crimea, charges that are widely acknowledged as fabricated. He had
supported EuroMaidan activists in the months leading up to Russia’s illegal
annexation of Crimea.

Zenon Zawada: Sentsov’s
sister told journalists that the Kremlin’s response indicates that Putin
doesn’t intend to release Sentsov. When a single human being makes these
decisions (rather than a functioning judicial system), we still believe it’s
possible Sentsov could be released, particularly considering that other enemies
of the Putin regime have been pardoned, such as oligarch Mikheil Khodorkovsky.
Just as he agreed to be exiled, a similar condition could be placed on Sentsov.
Moreover, it will be an big embarrassment to Putin – particularly after his
publicity gains from the World Cup – for Sentsov to die in custody of a Russian
prison.