Russian prosecutors urge 23 years in jail for Crimean filmmaker; critics reject terror charges

MOSCOW – Russian prosecutors are asking a court to send a Ukrainian filmmaker to prison for 23 years on charges of conspiracy to commit terrorist attacks.

Critics have dismissed Oleg Sentsov’s prosecution by Russia as revenge for his pro-Ukrainian position in Russia-occupied Crimea. Sentsov, a Crimean native, was a vocal opponent of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, which followed a hastily called referendum.

The prison sentence prosecutors requested at a hearing Wednesday in southern Russia is long by Russian standards.

Sentsov, who didn’t apply for Russian citizenship, was grabbed on the street in Crimea’s capital in May 2014 by Russian security officers and resurfaced days later in custody in Moscow.

Earlier in the trial, Sentsov had pleaded not guilty and insisted that a Russian court has no jurisdiction in his case.