EU parliament awards Sakharov Prize to Oleg Sentsov

25.10.2018 14:00

Ukrinform

The European Parliament has awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov, who is currently illegally imprisoned in the Russian Federation.

The decision was approved in Strasbourg on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Among other candidates for the award were NGOs that save migrants traveling across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe and Moroccan activist Nasser Zefzafi.

The Sakharov Prize will be presented at a ceremony in Strasbourg on December 12.

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named in honor of the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established by the European Parliament in 1988 to honor individuals and organizations who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms. The prize is accompanied by a monetary award of EUR 50,000.

As reported, Oleg Sentsov was detained by Russian security services in Crimea in May 2014. He was sentenced to 20 years in a penal colony in Russia for alleged "plotting acts of terrorism."

On May 14, 2018, he declared a hunger strike demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin. On October 6, Sentsov ended the hunger strike, faced the prospect of being force-fed.