PARIS, October 25. /TASS/. The European Parliament has awarded the 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Oleg Sentsov, convicted of terrorism in Crimea, whom Kiev considers to be a Ukrainian national.
The European Parliament's President Antonio Tajani announced the winner.
The Sakharov Prize honors individuals and organizations for achievements in the field of human rights. Sentsov was nominated by the European People's Party. The award ceremony is scheduled to be held in Strasbourg on December 12.
Sentsov case
On August 25, 2015, Russia’s North Caucasus District Military Court sentenced Oleg Sentsov to 20 years in prison on charges of establishing a terrorist group in Crimea. In the spring of 2014, the group’s members carried two terrorist attacks in the Crimean city of Simferopol, setting on fire the offices of Crimea’s Russian Community organization and the United Russia party’s Crimean branch. According to the investigation, they also planned to carry out other terrorist attacks.
On May 14, 2018, Sentsov went on a hunger strike and was put under medical surveillance. On October 5, Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service announced that he had stopped his hunger strike.
