Health worsens for hunger striker

MINSK, Belarus — The lawyer for a hunger-striking Ukrainian filmmaker who is imprisoned in Russia says the health risks for his client are rising as the protest enters its 75th day.

Oleg Sentsov, a vocal opponent of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, was sentenced in 2015 to 20 years for conspiracy to commit terrorism. The 42-year-old denies the charges and has been on a hunger strike since mid-may. He also is calling for the release of 64 other Ukrainians imprisoned in Russia whom he considers political prisoners.

Lawyer Dmitry Dinze told The Associated Press on Friday that Sentsov is pale and lies down constantly because he has difficulty moving. He says “the hunger strike is continuing and with each day the risk is increasing.”

The European Court of Human Rights this week urged Sentsov to end his hunger strike. Sentsov has refused to seek a presidential pardon from Vladimir Putin. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 10 Friday 11 Saturday 12 Sunday 13 Monday 14 Tuesday 15 Wednesday 16 Thursday 17 Friday 18 Saturday 19 Sunday 20 Monday 21 Tuesday 5:49 5:50 5:50 5:51 5:52 5:53 5:54 5:54 5:55 5:56 5:57 5:58 5:59 5:59 6:00 6:01 6:02 6:02 6:03 7:43 7:42 7:41 7:40 7:39 7:38 7:37 7:36 7:35 7:34 7:32 7:31 7:30 7:29 7:28 7:26 7:25 7:24 7:23 0.00 0.21 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 116 (1979) 114 (1979) 113 (1969) 114 (1978) 111 (1994) 114 (1978) 114 (1940) 115 (1940) 116 (1940) 115 (1937) 113 (1937) 111 (2002) 111 (2002) 113 (1939) 111 (1939) 111 (1992) 111 (1992) 110 (1950) 110 (2009) 54 (1937) 58 (1937) 63 (1953) 64 (1950) 63 (1950) 64 (1957) 65 (1951) 60 (1937) 60 (1948) 60 (1949) 60 (1949) 64 (1984) 60 (1938) 58 (1938) 55 (1938) 60 (1944) 60 (1938) 55 (1938) 63 (1957) 98 91 99 101 101 103 106 107 101 104 104 101 95 96 100 103 102 102 92 74 75 74 75 80 80 80 77 79 75 70 79 79 75 76 71 76 78 70