Ukrainian filmmaker Sentsov, on hunger strike in Russian prison, to be force-fed if there's threat to life - public supervisory commission

14:16, 21.08.2018 1 min read

The hunger strike being staged by Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who has been convicted of terrorism in Russia, is not an effective way of defending his rights, Moscow's Public Monitoring Commission secretary Ivan Melnikov told Interfax.

"The 100-day-long hunger strike is very difficult. He [Sentsov] must be taking some nutritional mixes, otherwise he would have been dead now. The Federal Penitentiary Service has its own regulations, and if there is a threat to his life, he will be force-fed," Melnikov said.

Sentsov started his hunger strike on May 14, 2018, demanding that all Ukrainians being held in Russia be freed.

"I don't think that a hunger strike is an effective method of defending one's rights. It only harms one's health. But it is necessary to understand that it is already a matter of principle for Sentsov," Melnikov said.