EU calls on Russia to provide Oleg Sentsov with treatment – statement

The European Union has called on Russia to provide Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov with appropriate treatment and to release immediately all illegally detained citizens of Ukraine.

This is stated in a statement made by the spokesperson of the European External Action Service (EEAS) on the continuous detention of Oleg Sentsov.

"We expect Russia to provide him with appropriate treatment in an institutionalised medical setting in line with the European Court of Human Rights interim measure of the past 25th of July," the statement reads.

The statement also notes that the European Union expects international human rights standards on the peninsula to be upheld and all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens in Russia and on the Crimean peninsula to be released without delay.

As reported, on July 25, the European Court of Human Rights decided on an interim measure in the case of imprisoned Oleg Sentsov, calling on Russia to provide him with appropriate treatment in an institutionalised medical setting. The Court also invited Sentsov to end his hunger strike and to accept any life-saving treatment offered.

Sentsov, who was illegally sentenced to 20 years in a penal colony, on May 14, 2018 declared a hunger strike demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin. On May 28, Sentsov agreed to supportive therapy.

On August 7, his lawyer Dmitry Dinze said that Sentsov's health condition had deteriorated.

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