MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/. Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov cannot be pardoned on the basis of a letter sent on behalf of Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"You know that such a request cannot serve as a ground for any actions from the perspective of Russia’s legislation, because you know what the pardon procedure in Russia is like," the Kremlin spokesman said.
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He suggested that Jagland’s letter "had been sent through diplomatic channels." "I haven’t seen this letter yet, so I cannot say anything," he added.
Peskov recalled that the pardon procedure was clearly enshrined in the Russian legislation. "We have talked about that many times, I do not want to repeat this now," he said. When asked whether there was any progress in the issue of Sentsov’s release, the Kremlin spokesman replied in the negative.
In late August 2015, Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, best known for his 2011 film Gamer, was found guilty of terrorism in Russia. The North Caucasus District Military Court sentenced him to 20 years behind bars on charges of setting up a terrorist cell in Crimea and plotting terror attacks. In the spring of 2014, the group’s members carried out two terror attacks in Simferopol: they set on fire the offices of Crimea’s Russian Community non-governmental organization and a regional office of the United Russia party.