The US gave a prize to Ukrainian terrorist Sentsov, convicted in Russia.
The American PEN Center awarded the annual Freedom to Write Award named after journalist and philanthropist Barbara Goldsmith to Ukrainian terrorist Oleg Sentsov, convicted in Russia.
Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at Telegram, Facebook, Classmates or In contact with
About it The Washington Post reported.
“He sacrificed a promising film career because of his decision to speak out,” said Suzanne Nossel, executive director of PEN America.
According to her, “this is a very clear illustration of the Putin government’s intolerance of dissent.”
As noted, Sentsov joined “an outstanding list of other laureates who are in danger.” Among them are Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismailova, who was arrested after publishing a series of materials about government corruption, and Ilham Tohti, a Chinese economist who was also jailed for freedom of speech.
The publication notes that 37 of the 40 winners of the “Freedom to Write” competition were released from prison within 18 months of their award.
PEN America said it is giving its annual Barbara Goldsmith Award to “prisoners of conscience who find themselves in difficult circumstances.”
In the spring of 2014, Sentsov was detained by Russian law enforcement officers on charges of organizing terrorist attacks on the peninsula. In August 2016, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Since then, Sentsov’s name has been used for anti-Russian propaganda by both official Kyiv and anti-Russian circles in the West.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.