Russian Court sentences Sentsov to 20 years, Kolchenko to ten years in prison

The North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, sentenced Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov to 20 years, and anti-fascist activist Oleksandr Kolchenko to ten years in high-security penal colony.

According to the Hromadske Ukrainian news outlet, Sentsov and Kolchenko began to sing the anthem of Ukraine after the verdict had been pronounced.

The court found Oleg Sentsov guilty of organizing and leading the terrorist community, committing two terrorist acts, preparing one terrorist attack more, attempted purchase of explosives, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition by the organized group.

Oleksandr Kolchenko was found guilty of involvement in the terrorist community and complicity in a terrorist act.

The trial in the case against two Crimean residents began on July 21.

The verdict can be appealed within ten days.

As a reminder, in May 2014, anti-fascist and public activist Oleksandr Kolchenko and filmmaker Oleg Sentsov were detained in Crimea by representatives of the Russian special services. Soon the activists were transferred to the Lefortovo detention facility in Moscow. The Federal Security Service of Russia stated that the detainees were “the members of the Right Sector subversive and terrorist group.” According to the investigators, the group aimed to carry out the sabotage and terrorist acts in Simferopol, Yalta and Sevastopol, Crimea, and to destroy infrastructure. The detainees and their lawyers consider these accusations to be absurd and politically motivated.

July 31, the chief witness for the prosecution Gennadiy Afanasyev said that he refused to testify, saying that he had given his previous testimony under pressure and slandered the detainees.

As the Amnesty International human rights organization noted earlier, any guilty verdict would be a loss of justice in Russia as the case is clearly trumped-up against the Crimean residents, seeking to punish them for their protest against the occupation of the peninsula.

“During the trial there were revealed even more shocking details of torture with the aim to force the testimony out against the defendants. The absence of investigation into the tortures is another manifestation of disregard for the standards of fair trial in this case,” the Ukrainian representative office of the Amnesty International reports.