Ukranian prisoner in Russia receives human rights award

The European Union on Thursday awarded the 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to a Ukrainian filmmaker imprisoned in Russia. Oleg Sentsov, 42, received a 20-year prison sentence in 2015 on terrorism charges. He started a 144-day hunger strike in May of this year to oppose Russia’s arrest of dozens of Ukrainians and vocally opposed the country’s 2014 annexation of his native Crimea.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said the award shows the EU’s solidarity with Sentsov and called for his release. “Through his courage and determination, by putting his life in danger, the filmmaker Oleg Sentsov has become a symbol of the struggle for the release of political prisoners held in Russia and around the world,” Tajani said. The EU created the award in honor of Andrei Sakharov in 1988 to honor human rights defenders.

On Tuesday, Sentsov also received Poland’s annual Pro Dignitate Humana prize.