Chief rabbi of Ukraine calls on international community to help free Sentsov

Jacob Dov Bleich, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine and the city of Kyiv, called on the international community to help release Oleg Sentsov, an imprisoned Ukrainian film director, from a prison in Russia. This is stated in the video appeal, which was made public on YouTube's Free Sentsov channel, Gordon reports.

Bleich said that Sentsov was similar to “prisoners of conscience”, who did not give up.

“Let’s bring as much international pressure to make sure that Russia does not continue the path of the Soviet Union and follows the rules of international law… Let’s work together to free Sentsov and to free all political prisoners held in Russia,” the rabbi said.

The film director was convicted in Russia for up to 20 years’ imprisonment on August 25, 2015. The Russian court found him guilty of organizing and leading a terrorist community in Crimea, of an attempt to purchase explosive devices and the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, of having committed two terrorist acts and the preparation of another terrorist attack. Sentsov did not admit his guilt.

On May 14, 2018, the film director announced an endless hunger strike in the Labitnang colony, Tyumen region. He demanded that 64 Ukrainian political prisoners be released, but he did not list himself among them.

On June 21, the political prisoner’s lawyer, Dmitry Dinze, said that Sentsov had heart and kidneys issues. He lost 13 kg of weight, but still refuses to stop his hunger strike. Ukrainian ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova was not allowed to see him.

On June 26, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland filed an official request to Russian President Vladimir Putin to pardon Sentsov. But the Kremlin explained that the letter of Jagland could not be the reason for such a measure.