Oleg Sentsov is a popular Ukrainian director, screenwriter and writer. He came into the spotlight of the media and the public in 2014, when he was arrested and charged with organizing terrorist acts. He received 20 years in a strict regime colony. Before the high-profile arrest and sentence, he was known for the film "Gamer".
Childhood and youth
Oleg Sentsov was born in 1976 in Simferopol. After school, he entered the Hetman National Economic University, located in Kyiv. Graduated in 1998.
Then he went to Moscow, where he studied the basics of cinema at the director's course. Returning to his native Simferopol, he opened a computer club in his city, which was his first successful business project. In the future, the life of gamers formed the basis of his feature film "Gamer".
Career
For several years, the computer club was Oleg Sentsov's main source of income. With the money he earned, he even managed to shoot his first picture.
On the film "Gamer"it took $20,000, with all the actors playing for free. The tape came out in 2011. It tells about the life of a teenager from Simferopol, Alexei, who is passionate about computer games in specialized clubs. This passion becomes the main thing in his life, behind which he does not notice his mother, who is worried about her studies, abandoned by her son, as well as the girl in love with him.
In his professional environment, he is considered one of the best, goes to the prestigious international tournament in Los Angeles, where he takes only second place. Returning to his native Simferopol, he angrily gets rid of everything that connected him with the world of computer games.
The film, directed by Oleg Sentsov, received positive reviews from critics and premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in the Netherlands. At the festival "Spirit of Fire" in Khanty-Mansiysk, the tape was awarded the prize of the Guild of Film Critics and Film Critics.
Filmography
Before his arrest in 2014, Oleg Sentsov had two more short films to his credit. These are "Bull's horn" and "Banana fish are good."
In 2013, it became known that he had begun work on his second feature film called "Rhino". It was supposed to be dedicated to the lives of children in the 90s. The director even managed to get financial assistance from the government of Ukraine, but the work was not completed. A crisis began in the country, a military conflict began in the southeast, and the Crimean peninsula was annexed to Russia. The director himselfended up in jail.
In the thick of things
The crisis in Crimea provoked the organization of "Automaidan". As a caring citizen of Ukraine, Sentsov found himself at the epicenter of the ongoing events. Some military units in Crimea were blocked, the director made his way into them to hand over humanitarian aid, was a member of the For a United Ukraine movement.
In the spring of 2014, a photo of Oleg Sentsov appeared after he was detained by the FSB. He was charged with terrorism. His defense was taken over by lawyer Dmitry Dinze, who already specialized in such cases. Soon new suspects appeared - Gennady Afanasiev, Alexey Chirniy, Alexander Kolchenko.
In May, there was a wave of public indignation associated with the arrest of Sentsov. Representatives of various public organizations in different countries demanded to release him, even the participants and organizers of the Cannes Film Festival made a corresponding statement.
The substance of the accusation
According to investigators, Sentsov and his accomplices planned to carry out a terrorist act near the monument to Lenin, and also organized the arson of the building in which the office of the United Russia party was located in Crimea. He was also suspected of collaborating with the Ukrainian nationalist organization Right Sector, whose activities are banned in Russia. At the same time, its leader Dmitry Yarosh denied this fact.
Over time, Sentsov got new lawyers. He himself complained thatwhile in prison, he is subjected to torture and physical force is used against him. According to these facts, his new lawyer Grozev even appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. In October, the prisoner gave a statement detailing the abuse.
In 2014, many well-known filmmakers, such as Pedro Almodovar, addressed Vladimir Putin in an open letter demanding the release of Sentsov.
Soon the case of Sentsov and Kolchenko was united. They were suspected of a number of terrorist attacks, which they were going to arrange under the leadership of Ukrainian nationalists. By that time, two other suspects had agreed to cooperate with the investigation, they were sentenced. According to lawyers Kolchenko and Sentsov, the rest of the suspects gave false testimony in order to alleviate their fate.
Sentence
Sentsov was sentenced in August 2015. He was sentenced to 20 years in a strict regime colony. Kolchenko, who also pleaded not guilty, received ten years in prison. According to the text of the indictment, the suspect was preparing to set off explosive devices on the night of May 9, 2014 near the monument to Lenin in Simferopol, as well as near the Eternal Flame. In addition, he was accused of setting fire to the office of United Russia and the public organization Russian Community of Crimea, which were committed in April 2014. That's what Oleg Sentsov was convicted for.
The verdict was appealed several times, but it did not lead to anything.
Convicted Oleg Sentsov was sent to a colony in Yakutia forserving the sentence. In October 2017, he was transferred to the city of Labytnangi in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, where the Polar Bear colony is located.
The Sentsov case is described in detail in Askold Kurov's documentary "Trial", which was shown at the Berlin Film Festival.
Hunger strike
Oleg Sentsov began a hunger strike on May 14, 2018, demanding the release of 64 political prisoners who are in Russian prisons. However, he did not include himself in this list. Two days later, this decision became known from his lawyer Dinze.
Sentsov has been preparing for a month and a half to start a hunger strike. He refused food parcels from relatives and supporters, ate the minimum amount of food so that the transition to a complete refusal of food was not so much stress for the body.
After the start of the hunger strike, he was transferred to an isolated cell, where his state of he alth is monitored by a medical worker. At the same time, Sentsov agreed in writing to take a therapeutic nutritional mixture, as well as drugs that improve the functioning of his nervous and cardiovascular systems.
In early August, it became known that his condition had deteriorated significantly, the director's lawyers reported. Dinze reported that his pulse dropped to 40 beats per minute, hemoglobin dropped sharply, and anemia appeared. At the same time, Sentsov refuses to go to the hospital, arguing that conditions there will be even worse. At the same time, representatives of the Federal Enforcement Servicepunishments were reported that the deterioration of his he alth was not recorded, there was no need for urgent hospitalization.
Private life
Sentsov had a wife, Alla, with whom they had two children. This is son Vladislav and daughter Alina. In 2016, the director's wife announced her desire to formalize the divorce, then her husband was under arrest.
To journalists, she argued her decision by the impossibility of improving the financial situation of the family in this status. For example, she cannot buy a house. The family of the prisoner was left without support, besides, Alla cannot work due to life circumstances.
