Oleg Sentsov: 3 Months Without Food

North of the Arctic Circle, in Russia’s Prison Colony No.8 in Labytnangi, a man is starving because politics fail. The Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who was involved in supporting the Euro Maidan protests in Kiev and who has opposed the annexation of Crimea by Russia, has been on hunger strike for over 90 days. 

His lawyer Dmitry Dinze reports that during his hunger strike, which he started on 14 May, Oleg Sentsov has lost 30 kilograms, that he is suffering from anaemia and that he has a slow heartbeat. 

Sentsov’s cousin Natalya Kaplan says "Things aren't just bad, they're catastrophically bad." 

Three months of protests from the international cultural world against the treatment of Oleg Sentsov have passed without any results. Three months of numerous appeals on all levels to president Putin and the Russian authorities to release Oleg Sentsov remain without response. The voices of thousands of people on the streets in over 30 countries remain unheard. 

What else has to happen until those in power finally show their human faces? 

Enough is enough: Let’s not watch Oleg Sentsov die – let’s declare Tuesday, 14 August, THE OLEG SENTSOV DAY! 

The media around the world, heads of state, foreign secretaries, members of national parliaments and of the European Parliament, citizens – on Tuesday, 14 August they shall unite their voices to president Putin for one big call for humanity: Mr President, have mercy, release Oleg Sentsov!