Medics begin examining Ukrainian citizen Kolchenko, who went on hunger strike in solidarity with Sentsov
A special commission was created in the correctional facility No.6 in the city of Kopeysk, Chelyabinsk region, for a health survey of Crimean resident Oleksandr Kolchenko, who had gone on a hunger strike in support of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, also on a hunger strike, about a week ago, the press service for Chelyabinsk Regional Human Rights Commissioner Margarita Pavlova said.
"A medical commission was created regarding Kolchenko's health on June 5. He is being examined daily. The convict has not complained about his incarceration conditions," the press service cited Pavlova, who had met with Kolchenko on Tuesday, as saying.
According to the convict, he learned about Sentsov's hunger strike from his lawyers, she said.
In turn, Vasily Katane, the chair of the Federal Penitentiary Service's public monitoring commission, who had visited the infirmary of the penal colony, where Kolchenko is being held, said in a press release that the convict has not refused water.
"Employees of the colony bring a food tray to the ward every time during meals, and it is being left on the bedside table for a half an hour," Katane said.
He also said that Kolchenko denied in written form information circulating in the media that he is allegedly being forced to become a Russian citizen.
"During my stay in the colony, no one has forced me physically or by persuasion to acquire the Russian Federation's citizenship. And, therefore, I have not acquired it," the press release cited Kolchenko's written statement.
As reported, in August 2015, the North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Ukrainian filmmaker Sentsov, who had been detained in Crimea in 2014, to 20 years in a maximum-security penal colony for an attempt to create a terrorist community in Crimea. Kolchenko was given ten years of imprisonment in the same case.
On May 14, 2018, Sentsov went on a hunger strike demanding the release of all Ukrainian citizens in custody in Russia.
On May 31, Kolchenko also went on a hunger strike demanding Sentsov's release.
