The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has accepted an application filed by Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who was illegally convicted in Russia, in the case against Russia.
"Another super news. The ECHR has communicated Oleh Sentsov's application [to the respondent government, i.e. officially reported on a complaint to the Russian Commissioner for European Court of Human Rights]. The court has also linked his complaint with the case Ukraine v. Russia on the annexation of Crimea. Our lawyer Natasha Dobreva has been working," head of the Agora international human rights group Pavel Chikov said on Telegram.
Read alsoSentsov's condition further deteriorating – lawyer
In his complaint lodged with the ECHR, Sentsov stated that the Russian authorities had violated Article 3 (prohibition of torture) and Article 5 (right to liberty and security) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
The human rights activist also shared a copy of the letter from the ECHR, which states that the Russian government has been requested to submit its observations in written by January 16, 2019, on the Sentsov case and answer a number of important questions.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Sentsov was arrested in Russian-occupied Crimea in spring 2014 and in August 2015 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison following an unfair trial where he faced "terrorism" charges stemming from his opposition to Russia's occupation of Crimea. He has been serving his term in a penal colony in the town of Labytnangi, Russia's Yamal. He went on hunger strike on May 14, demanding that Russia free all Ukrainian political prisoners. Sentsov's cousin, Moscow-based journalist Natalya Kaplan says his condition is critical and things are "catastrophically bad."
