Ukrainian film director, imprisoned in Russia, was awarded the Sakharov Prize 2018 for Freedom of Thought
ADVERTISEMENTThe European Parliament has awarded imprisoned Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov its 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
“Thanks to his action, the entire world has begun speaking about Russian repressions,” Sentsov's cousin Natalya Kaplan said at the award ceremony in Strasbourg on December 12.
"Oleh has drawn a lot of attention to the issue of Ukrainian political prisoners [in Russia]. He has won already," she added.
Sentsov has been imprisoned in Russia since opposing Moscow's takeover of his native Crimea in March 2014, and his absence at the Strasbourg ceremony was marked by an empty chair at the center of the plenary session.
Kaplan read out a letter from her cousin, in which he said: "The present is often unfair. The history is always just. Everything always takes its rightful place and begins to be called for what it really is over time."
Sentsov was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted of terrorism in a trial criticized by human rights groups and Western governments as politically motivated.
EU officials have called on Russia’s authorities to release the film director, saying he continues to be in poor health as he recovers from a 145-day hunger strike while in prison in a Far Northern Russian region.