Mayor of Paris dedicates the all-night art festival to Oleh Sentsov
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced on Twitter that the Nuit Blanche (White Night) night-time art festival is dedicated to the Ukrainian film director and the prisoner in the Russian penal colony, Oleh Sentsov.
“On this night of culture, creativity and freedom, how can we not think about Oleh Sentsov? This 17th annual f Nuit Blanche festival is dedicated to him,” wrote the mayor of Paris.
The annual contemporary all-night art festival “White Night” is held in Paris in early October. Contemporary artists from all continents take part in this festival presenting their works to the audience.
On the eve of the event, it became known that Sentsov would end his hunger strike on October 6. He called it "a necessary step due to the force-feeding threat." According to Russian doctors, Sentsov may not survive after ending his hunger strike.
On May 14, convicted Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov announced an indefinite hunger strike, demanding the release of all the Ukrainian political prisoners who are held in Russian prisons.
Representatives of the Russian special services in the Crimea detained Sentsov and the Crimean anarchist Olexandr Kolchenko in May 2014 on charges of organizing terrorist acts on the peninsula. In August 2015, the North Caucasus Military District in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Sentsov to 20 years in a penal colony on charges of terrorist activities in the Crimea. Kolchenko received 10 years sentence in prison. Both men did not admit their guilt.
The Human rights center "Memorial" added Sentsov and Kolchenko to the political prisoners' list. The petition of appeal on the White House website to save convicted in Russia Oleh Sentsov was signed by more than 100 thousand people.