International prize awarded to Sentsov in Slovenia
This award was received on behalf of Sentsov by Ukraine's Ambassador to Slovenia Mykhailo Brodovych as part of the international conference titled "The Dark Side of the Moon," which is taking place in Ljubljana on November 13-15.
During his speech, the ambassador thanked the international community for demonstrating solidarity with Ukrainian political prisoners and expressed hope that Sentsov and all other people of good will, who are ready to defend their independence and European future of Ukraine, will be released in the near future and the Russian authorities will be brought to justice for the crimes committed.
The report notes that the award to Sentsov will soon be given to his relatives in Ukraine.
The Platform for European Remembrance and Conscience is an educational project of the European Union bringing together government institutions and NGOs from EU countries active in research, documentation, awareness raising and education about the crimes of totalitarian regimes. The platform was founded in Prague on the occasion of the summit of Prime Ministers of the Visegrad Group on October 14, 2011.
Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov was arrested in Crimea on May 10, 2014 and was charged with plotting terrorist attacks. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In May 2018, Sentsov went on hunger strike demanding the release of all political prisoners of the Kremlin. He stopped his 145-day hunger strike on October 6 because of the threat of force-feeding.
In total, about 70 Ukrainian political prisoners, including Ukrinform journalist Roman Sushchenko, are currently held in Russia and in Russian-occupied Crimea. Sushchenko was sentenced to 12 years in a high-security penal colony for alleged espionage.
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