Lawyer Polozov: None of my clients personally asked Putin for pardon

Russian lawyer Nikolai Polozov says that none of his clients, who were subsequently pardoned, had written requests to president Vladimir Putin.

"The Kremlin again lies about the pardon of Sentsov. None of my clients, Ukrainian citizens, who were subsequently pardoned, had written requests to Putin. It was done by other people following instructions of the Presidential Administration. All of them were pardoned after political decisions on them had been made. Putin just does not want to release Sentsov. This is the case. It’s personal," the lawyer posted on Facebook, commenting on the Kremlin's statement that Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov must personally ask Putin for pardon.

In July, it became known that Sentsov’s mother sent a petition to the Russian president with a request to pardon her son. On August 14, the media published a Kremlin’s response saying the pardoning procedure starts with a personal appeal of convicted person. The final decision on pardon is adopted by the Russian president.

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