"We ask that he be released immediately," European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said in awarding Ukranian activist Oleg Sentsov the 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The prestigious human rights awards goes to the imprisoned filmmaker after he became a symbol of the struggle for the release of political prisoners held in Russia. Sentsov was detained in May 2014 and a year later sentenced to 20 years in prison for “plotting terrorist acts” against pro-Russian organizations in Crimea. Amnesty International described the case as “an extremely cynical show trial.”