MOSCOW – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has called on Oleh Sentsov, a Ukrainian convicted for terrorism in Russia, to stop his hunger strike or at least accept any medical treatment offered.
“Mr Sentsov should receive treatment appropriate to his condition in an institutionalized medical setting without delay. The Court also invited the applicant to end his hunger strike and to accept any life-saving medical treatment offered,” the ECHR Registrar said in a statement.
Pavel Chikov, head of the Agora international group, told Interfax that Russia may not disregard the court’s demand that Sentsov receive appropriate medical treatment.
“I will just note that Russia is obligated to deliver on the ECHR demand but it [the government] does not deny it, stating in its position that Sentsov is receiving all appropriate treatment. The defense team is confirming it. Neither the team nor Sentsov have any complaints about the quality of treatment that he receives, his prison conditions, or the way in which he is treated by medical personnel,” Chikov said.
As earlier reported, in August 2015, the North Caucasus District Military Court sentenced Sentsov, who was detained in Crimea in 2014, to 20 years in a high-security penitentiary.
Sentsov is held in the Russian colony Bely Medved beyond the polar circle in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. He went on hunger strike on May 14,2018, demanding that all Ukrainians held in Russia be released.
