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Kremlin comments on filmmaker Sentsov case

In August 2015, Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov was sentenced to 20 years behind bars

Oleg Sentsov Valeriy Matytsin/TASS

Oleg Sentsov

© Valeriy Matytsin/TASS

MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov finds statements about Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov being denied pardon inappropriate, as they did not receive a formal request from him.

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Kremlin to consider request by filmmaker Sentsov’s mother to pardon him

"As you know, there exists a legal framework, and to use the phrase "deny pardon" would probably be incorrect from a legal viewpoint, as there was no request for pardon (directly from the convict)," the Kremlin representative said, commenting on the response of the Russian president’s administration to a letter by Sentsov’s mother asking for the pardon of her son. Peskov added that he has nothing more to add on this matter.

According to Sentsov’s sister Natalya Kaplan, the Russian presidential administration has replied to the pardon request sent by the filmmaker’s mother. The letter states that according to the existing legal framework, "the procedure of pardon begins with a personal request from the inmate, who makes a personal written appeal to the Russian president via the administration of the correctional facility where he is serving his sentence."

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.

Sentsov went on a hunger strike in May of this year and has since been under medical supervision. On August 9, the regional penitentiary authorities reported that his health has not deteriorated, according to the latest medical examination.

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