Human rights
(Brussels) The Ukrainian Director Oleg Sentsov (pictured in an old photo) was serving a 20-year prison sentence for his opposition to Russia’s annexation of Crimea when he was announced the winner of the 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The award ceremony in Strasbourg on 12 December last year was attended by Sentsov’s cousin and lawyer, who brought a message that the director had written in the Russian penal colony 2,000 kilometres north of Moscow, where he had been detained since 2015: “In a word you can cure, you can maim, you can save, and you can kill by commanding fire”, Sentsov wrote, “you can call for surrender, you can call for resistance and for fighting, even when there is no chance to survive, but there is only a chance to die. No matter when you die, more important is how and for what”. Sentsov, who was convicted of plotting terrorist attacks against Russia, was jailed and sentenced to 20 years in prison after a farcical trial; while in prison, he spent 145 days on hunger strike, demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners unjustly detained. He was released in September in an exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine. On 26 November, Sentsov will be in Strasbourg to receive in person this emblematic prize awarded each year by the European Parliament to people who dedicate their lives to the peaceful defence of human rights and freedom of thought.
