UKRAINE-CRISIS/RUSSIA-COURT Ukrainian film director, activist faces terrorism charges in Russian court

Record ID: 146396

  • Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/RUSSIA-COURT Ukrainian film director, activist faces terrorism charges in Russian court
  • Date: 21st July 2015
  • Summary: ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA (JULY 21, 2015) (REUTERS) UKRAINIAN FILM DIRECTOR AND ACTIVIST, OLEG SENTSOV, AND ACTIVIST, ALEXANDER KOLCHENKO, SITTING BEHIND SCREEN, DEFENCE IN FRONT SENTSOV SENTSOV'S LAWYER, DMITRY DINZE, TALKING IN COURT KOLCHENKO GUARDS STATE PROSECUTOR STANDING IN COURT AND HEARD SAYING (Russian): "ACCORDING TO STATE LAW THAT COVERS THE CITIZENSHIP QUESTIONS O
  • Embargoed: 5th August 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA97CC64EA6F5AIKJAE03R5DBSD
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov has gone on trial in Russia's Rostov-on-Don accused of plotting terrorist acts in Crimea.
    Sentsov was arrested in Crimea last May after attending a pro-Ukrainian rally, just weeks after Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine. Russia's Federal Security Service, a successor to the Soviet-era KGB, detained the film director who has been kept in detention in Russia since.
    Sentsov pleaded not guilty at the beginning of the North Caucasus military court hearing on Tuesday (July 21). He faces at least 20 years of jail time, if found guilty.
    Russian prosecutors accuse Sentsov of creation of a terrorist organisation, planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Crimea, illegal possession and attempt to traffic arms. Prosecutors maintain the film director turned activist was involved in attempted arson attacks in Simferopol, working in collaboration with the right-wing group Right Sector, which is outlawed in Russia.
    Sentsov's supporters say he is being held as a political prisoner for his pro-Ukrainian stance.
    Sentsov's lawyer Dmitry Dinze told Reuters TV his client did no apply for Russian citizenship after the annexation, but is being treated like a Russian citizen and is being denied access to Ukrainian representatives.
    According to local media Sentsov was issued with a Russian passport while in custody.
    Sentsov, who has claimed he was tortured while in detention, denies all accusations against him and says the case is politically motivated.
    "Sentsov has such an attitude to this judicial system, because he was tortured... What do you expect from a person who was tortured, as he says, by the Federal Security Service officers, who has been in jail for a while, and who in fact is not given an opportunity to communicate with his relatives. I think anyone would lose their nerves," said his lawyer, Dinze on Tuesday.
    Ukrainian activist Alexander Kolchenko shared the defendant's bench with the film director. The anti-fascist activist is accused of assisting Sentsov and an arson attack against the local office of the ruling United Russia party.
    According to Russian media Echo Moskvy, the case against Sentsov and Kolchenko will be mostly based on testimony given to the court by two other men who have already pleaded guilty to charges against them and sentenced to seven years in prison.
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