Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania Resolution Regarding Oleg Sentsov and Other Political Prisoners

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SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA RESOLUTION REGARDING OLEG SENTSOV AND OTHER POLITICAL PRISONERS 27 June 2018 No XIII-1319 Vilnius The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, noting that Ukrainian film director and political prisoner Oleg Sentsov has been sentenced to twenty years in a maximum-security prison in Siberia because of his critical attitude towards Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and, first of all, towards Russia’s occupation of Crimea; emphasising that Oleg Sentsov’s trial was not impartial and fair and that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that he could have been tortured in order to obtain an incriminating confession; noting that Oleg Sentsov is on hunger strike for one and a half months, seeking to draw the attention of the international community and all freedom-loving people to the situation of the political prisoners jailed or detained in Russia and demanding their release; expressing concern about the health condition of Oleg Sentsov who has been on hunger strike since 14 May 2018 and the threat to his life posed by the continuing hunger strike, as he does not intend to discontinue the hunger strike until after the release of political prisoners jailed in Russia nor to ask the President of the Russian Federation for pardon; noting that in the event of the fatal outcome of Oleg Sentsov’s protest against injustice in Russia, the primary responsibility would be borne by the President of the Russian Federation, since it is in his powers to terminate at any time the imprisonment of Oleg Sentsov and release other political prisoners, urges the President of the Russian Federation and the responsible authorities to immediately release Oleg Sentsov, his colleague Olexandr Kolchenko and other political prisoners jailed or detained in Russia and occupied Crimea; invites the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania and the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania to identify, in consultation with representatives of Ukraine, the persons and officials who have issued orders in respect of Oleg Sentsov, have executed them and have been otherwise involved in his imprisonment and to consider entering them on the list of persons subject to the so-called Magnitsky sanctions; 2 reminds that the Republic of Lithuania will never recognise occupied Crimea as part of the Russian Federation; supports the EU continuity policy for non-recognition of occupied Crimea and for sanctions against Russia and calls for the sanctions to be reinforced in the event of Russia’s continued failure to fulfil its international obligations; urges the parliaments of the Member States of the European Union to raise the issue of the release of Oleg Sentsov and other political prisoners. Speaker of the Seimas Viktoras Pranckietis .

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