PART 4 A YEAR AFTER: MAIN VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CRIMEA Edem Asanov, sharing the R rst and last names with one of the suspects in Sentsov’s case by coincidence, disappeared and was later found dead in the Crimea under unknown circumstances. The o7 cial version of the Crimean authorities of Asanov’s death is suicide. The friends and relatives of Sentsov and Kolchenko in the Crimea, as well as mem- bers of the art center who personally knew Sentsov, were under continuous pres- sure. Some of them were summoned to FSB for interrogations. The Russian authorities ignore the Ukrainian citizenship of Sentsov and Kolchen- ko, who continuously insist on their being Ukrainian citizens. On multiple occa- sions, Ukraine has demanded the Russian Federation to allow the Ukrainian con- sul to attend its citizens; Ukrainian diplomats and representatives of the interna- tional community made similar appeals. However, Russia still does not allow the Ukrainian party to visit the arrested, who remain at a detention facility in Moscow. Kolchenko R led a claim to retain Ukrainian citizenship. The Simferopol court de- nied it, because the Crimean o7 ce of the Russian Federal Migration Service issued Kolchenko a Russian passport, which he is unable to receive while imprisoned. However, Kolchenko never applied for a Russian passport and insists on being a Ukrainian citizen. The lawyers repeatedly reported on the use of brutal torture to the defendants in order to obtain confessions. The criminal case was based on the testimony of Alexey Chirniy, who allegedly acted as a member of the “terrorist communi- ty” led by Sentsov, the goal of which was to “influence the decision-making by public authorities of the Russian Federation on the secession of the Republic of Crimea from the Russian Federation”. There is a reason to assume that Chirniy had been tortured. He was found guilty of preparing and carrying out the terror- ist attack and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in a high-security penal colony. Gennady Afanasiev was forced under torture to sign a plea bargain and fully admit his guilt. The court also found him guilty and sentenced him to seven years in the high-security penal colony. However, during a court hearing on charges against Sentsov and Kolchenko, Afanasiev withdrew his testimony against Sentsov and Kolchenko. He said that he testified under coercion and torture. According to him, in fact, he had never met Sentsov and Kolchenko before. On August 25, the military judge Sergey Mikhailyuk in Rostov announced the verdict for Oleg Sentsov and Alexander Kolchenko, which were convicted on terrorist charges. Sentsov was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Kolchen- 134