Lech Walesa nominates Oleg Sentsov for Nobel Peace Prize

"I have a deep conviction that Oleg Sentsov impersonates the ideals, which I professed when I peacefully struggled for the future of the world. Faith in democracy, peaceful methods of action, absence of hatred, activity in the name of brotherhood between nations and dedication to the good of other people, who are unfairly offended, are the features that require the recognition by the free world. For these reasons, I call on all the people of good will to [promote] release of Oleg Sentsov and nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize," the Polish Film Academy quotes Walesa's letter.

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, Sentsov declared a hunger strike demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin.

On August 8, Sentsov’s sister Natalia Kaplan said that his condition is "catastrophically bad".

About 70 Ukrainians are political prisoners in Russia and in the occupied Crimea. 

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