The head of EU diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, said that the sentence against Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov and Alexander Kolchenko violates international law. This was reported in her statement published on the official website of the Foreign Ministry of the European Union.

Mogherini noted that Russian courts cannot judge actions committed outside the internationally recognized territory of Russia, and the European Union considers this case as a violation of international law and basic rules of justice.

“The European Union continues to call on Russia to immediately release Sentsov and Kolchenko and guarantee a safe return to Ukraine,” Mogherini said in a statement.

On August 25, the North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Sentsov to 20 years in prison; the court found Sentsov guilty in the case of preparing terrorist attacks in Crimea. The court sentenced Alexander Kolchenko to ten years in prison. Previously, the prosecution demanded 23 years in prison for Sentsov. He pleaded not guilty, calling the case “political and fabricated.”

Oleg Sentsov was detained in Crimea on May 11, 2014. The investigation stated that Sentsov created a terrorist community in Crimea, whose members, after the annexation of Crimea to Russia, set fire to the offices of the public organization “Russian Community of Crimea” and the branches of “United Russia” in Simferopol.

The EU called the sentence to Sentsov and Kolchenko a violation of international law