Dozens of artists call for Ukrainian dissident's release

NEW YORK (AP) - Margaret Atwood, Stephen Sondheim and Patrick Stewart are among dozens of artists and journalists calling for the release of Ukrainian filmmaker and dissident Oleg Sentsov^[1].

Sentsov^[2], a critic of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, is serving a 20-year term on terrorism charges. Sentsov^[3], 41, has been on a hunger strike for three weeks, demanding the release of 64 Ukrainian political prisoners. He is not calling for his own release.

In a letter released Monday through PEN America, the artists called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to free Sentsov^[4]. They wrote that the upcoming World Cup games in Russia would heighten scrutiny of the country’s human rights abuses. Freeing Sentsov^[5] would make a “powerful statement,” they wrote.