'Don't trust Putin, he will cheat you': Freed film-maker Oleg Sentsov warns Europe

A Ukranian filmmaker, released from prison in September 2019 as a part of the exchange of groups of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine, warned Europe to not trust Russian President Vladimir Putin. Oleg Sentsov, who was arrested by Russia after it annexed Crimea in 2014, received Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

“It is a huge honour and a huge responsibility to receive this prize. I accept and take this prize not as a personal honour, but as a prize to all Ukrainian political prisoners that have been in Russian prisons and to all that are still there,” said Sentsov after receiving the award. “I do not trust (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and I call upon you not to trust him either. Russia and Mr Putin will absolutely cheat you. They want to see Ukraine on its knees,” he added.

While awarding the prize, European Parliament President David Sassoli said, “You have clearly stood by your principles and convictions, Mr Sentsov, for which you have paid a very high price of freedom. No person should ever pay for that.”

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Arrested in 2014

Sentsov was arrested on the charges of leading a terrorist organisation and plotting acts of terrorism against the Russian ‘de facto’ rule in Crimea. The filmmaker was transported to Russia and spent a year in detention before a military court sentenced him 20 years in prison. Though Sentsov was a Ukranian citizen, Russia treated him as a Russian citizen.

While the 43-year-old Ukranian pleaded not guilty, no conclusive evidence of him being involved in illegal activities was presented. The key witness in the case revealed that he made the confession under torture and retracted it. Sentsov was kept in a high-security penal colony in Siberia but he continued to fight against his conviction from jail. 

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Demands of his release intensified

Sentsov went on a 145-day long hunger strike as a part of his fight to release all Ukranian political prisoners in Russia but he was force-fed by the authorities due to his critical health condition. Demands to release illegally detained Ukranian citizens gained momentum when the European Parliament adopted a resolution on their immediate and unconditional release.

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(With inputs from Agencies)