Ukrainian Sentsov sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by Russian court

A Russian military court sentenced on Aug. 25 Ukrainian film director and Crimean resident Oleh Sentsov to 20 years imprisonment for organizing a terrorist organization and committing two terrorist acts. An accomplice, Ukrainian citizen and Crimean resident Oleksandr Kolchenko, was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for joining a terrorist organization and engaging in terrorist acts. The defendants said the charges and evidence against them were fabricated by Russian prosecutors. In his testimony on Aug. 6, Sentsov described how he was kidnapped and tortured by Russian law enforcement authorities. Their defense attorneys said they would appeal the sentence in the Russian Supreme Court.

Sentsov and Kolchenko are illegally incarcerated on Russian territory and are innocent victims of Russian aggression against Ukraine, said an Aug. 25 statement issued by Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry. Their inhumane sentences were ordered by the Russian government in violation of the law, the statement said, calling for their immediate release. In an Aug. 25 television interview, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin called for a new list of Western sanctions against Russian citizens responsible for the illegal incarceration of Ukrainian citizens, particularly Sentsov and Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called for their release in accordance with the Minsk accords, which requires the release of all illegally incarcerated prisoners, reported the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

Sergei Ivanov, the head of the Russian Presidential Administration, declined to comment on the verdicts, explaining they were reached by a separate branch of government, reported the tvrain.ru news site. The verdicts violated international law and elementary judicial standards, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said in an Aug. 25 statement. The EU calls for their immediate release and safe return to Ukraine, the statement said.

Zenon Zawada: The Sentsov verdict affirms the intensity of the conflict between the Russian government and the West, and the fact that the two sides are far from any compromise or peace. It also affirms that Russian society lacks rule of law and equality before the law, which are basic, essential Western institutions. The verdict for imprisoned Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko is likely to be just as harsh. A new round of sanctions is possible following her criminal conviction, based on these egregious abuses of justice.