[JURIST] A Russian military court on Tuesday sentenced [AI press release] two Ukrainian activists to substantial jail time for the charge of conspiring to commit terror attacks. Oleg Sentsov, a filmmaker, and Aleksandr Kolchenko, an ecologist and antifascist activist, received 20 and 10 years in prison, respectively, for alleged arson attacks against pro-Russian groups during the Russian occupation of Crimea that took place last year. Sentsov and Kolchenko were outspoken activists against the Crimean annexation. Their trial and sentence have drawn much criticism for what some view as the suppression of dissidents by the Russian government. Eurasia researcher at Amnesty International [advocacy website], Heather McGill noted:

This whole trial was designed to send a message. It played into Russia’s propaganda war against Ukraine and was redolent of Stalinist-era show trials of dissidents. … This trial was fatally flawed and credible allegations of torture and other ill-treatment have been ignored by the court. Both Oleg Sentsov and one of the main witnesses for the prosecution have alleged that they were tortured. Any testimony gained through torture and other ill-treatment must be thrown out, the “terrorism” charges must be withdrawn, and Oleg Sentsov and Aleksandr Kolchenko should either be released or face a fair trial in a civilian court

The placement of the trial in military court has also been questioned, as under international humanitarian law, an occupying power, such as Russia, is required to prosecute any defendants in civilian courts under the occupied country’s law.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine persists following the Crimean Annexation [JURIST backgrounder]. In March the EU committed to stand by its policy of refusing to recognize [JURIST report] Crimea’s annexation, as they purport the illegality of Russia’s referendum. In February Russian liberal political activist Boris Nemtsov was shot in the back four times [BBC report] in the middle of busy downtown Moscow. Nemtsov was openly politically opposed to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its role in Ukraine, and many believe Vladimir Putin ordered [JURIST report] the kiling. The conflict has often been labeled the biggest crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. US President Barack Obama has strongly condemned [JURIST report] Russia’s military intervention in the region as a violation of international law. Others believe [JURIST op-ed] that the constitutional provisions Russia used to annex Crimea had been carefully drafted and added to the Russian Federal Constitutional Law with the obvious goal of using them to reclaim former soviet states. To show the worsening human rights conditions, in November Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] filed a 37-page report [text, PDF] detailing cases of persecution of groups opposed to Russian occupation in Crimea, the imposition of Russian citizenship on residents of Crimea, and limitations on speech. In March 2014 Putin signed legislation [JURIST report] making Crimea officially part of Russia. Despite international criticism, the bills passed the House unanimously.