Kremlin: Sentsov must personally appeal to Putin for pardon
In reply to the Sentsov mother’s appeal, the Russian Office for the Guarantee of Citizens Constitutional Rights under the Presidential Administration said that to apply for a pardon, the film director Oleh Sentsov must write a personal plea to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Putin administration stated that they forwarded Oleh’s mother’s Ludmila Sentsova's appeal to the Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area for his preliminary consideration, reports Hromadske.
"At the same time, we want to clarify the Regulations of the procedure for the pardon petitions in the Russian Federation. The pardon procedure begins with a personal petition to pardon by the convicted person, referred to the President of the Russian Federation in writing through the administration of the correctional institution, where he is serving a sentence, "says the reply.
Putin’s administation also noted that the Russian president makes the final decision on a pardon.
Sentsov’s sister Natalia Kaplan announced that this answer indicates that they are not planning to release Oleh.
"My mother's reaction to this reply is quite positive. I think she simply did not understand the essence of the document. We will think about what do next with a help of a lawyer." Oleh definitely will not write a petition for pardon. "I can tell that this answer indicates that they are not going to let Oleh go,” said Kaplan.
She noted that Putin’s Administration still called Sentsov a citizen of Russia and "made it clear that the mother’s plea for pardon did not work."
Earlier, the European Film Academy called to estabish the date of August 14 as the Day of Oleh Sentsov. Artists also called on the president of the Russian Federation to show mercy and release the political prisoner Sentsov. The possibility for the exchange of Ukrainian political prisoners is planned to be discussed at a meeting in Minsk on August 22.
Sentsov’s mother, Lyudmila Sentsova wrote a letter to Putin with a petition to pardon her son Oleh Sentsov. The letter was sent on July 26. According to the Sentsov's lawyer Dmitry Dinze, the pardon procedure takes between two weeks and one month period.