Canadian opposition calls on Russia to free Oleg Sentsov
Russia must release Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov and immediately stop the illegal occupation of Crimea.
Member of Parliament for Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman and Conservative Shadow Minister for National Defence, James Bezan, made a statement on Twitter.
"For 100 days Oleg Sentsov has been on a hunger strike protesting his unjust imprisonment by the Kremlin. Putin is illegally incarcerating numerous Ukrainians in Russia. As with annexation of Crimea, this cannot be allowed to stand. #FreeSentsov," Bezan wrote.
Sentsov was detained by Russian security services in Crimea in May 2014.
He was sentenced to 20 years in a penal colony in Russia for alleged "plotting acts of terrorism."
On May 14, 2018, he declared a hunger strike demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin.
On August 8, Sentsov’s sister Natalia Kaplan said that his condition is "catastrophically bad".
About 70 Ukrainians are political prisoners in Russia and in the occupied Crimea. This list also includes Ukrinform journalist Roman Sushchenko, who was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony on fabricated charges of "espionage."
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