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Filmmaker Sentsov must initiate pardon process himself, Kremlin says

According to the Kremlin spokesman, "public attention can in no way affect the ruling by a Russian court, which has taken effect"

Oleg Sentsov Valeriy Matytsin/TASS

Oleg Sentsov

© Valeriy Matytsin/TASS

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov needs to initiate the pardon process himself, public attention cannot affect it, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked to comment on the request by cultural figures to Russian leader Vladimir Putin to pardon Sentsov.

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"Of course, public attention can in no way affect the ruling by a Russian court, which has taken effect," Peskov noted. "The pardon process envisages a procedure, which is initiated by the convict himself."

According to the Kremlin spokesman, Russian presidential administration staff saw media reports on the issue.

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 public organization and a regional office of the United Russia party.

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