Russia jails Ukraine filmmaker

A court in Russia has jailed Ukrainian film-maker Oleg Sentsov for 20 years for plotting terrorist acts in Crimea. Sentsov, 39, was arrested in May 2014 during a protest against Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula two months earlier. He denies the charges against him and his cause has been taken up by other directors, […]

A court in Russia has jailed Ukrainian film-maker Oleg Sentsov for 20 years for plotting terrorist acts in Crimea.
Sentsov, 39, was arrested in May 2014 during a protest against Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula two months earlier.
He denies the charges against him and his cause has been taken up by other directors, including Mike Leigh, Stephen Daldry and Pedro Almodovar.
Russia denies claims that he is a political prisoner.
Another Crimea activist, Alexander Kolchenko, who was being tried with Sentsov and also denies the charges against him, was sentenced to 10 years.
After the verdict was read out, both defendants sang the Ukrainian national anthem in the military court in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.
Sentsov, best known for his 2011 film Gamer, was accused of setting up a terrorist group.