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Ukrainian Film Director’s Defiant Court Statement: 'The Greatest Sin Is Cowardice' Empty Ukrainian Film Director’s Defiant Court Statement: 'The Greatest Sin Is Cowardice'

Wed Aug 19, 2015 9:12 pm
Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov stood before a Russian court in Rostov-on-Don on August 19 to offer a defiant closing statement in his trial with a co-defendant for alleged conspiracy to commit terrorism in forcibly annexed Crimea in 2014.

In his remarks, he challenged the legitimacy of an occupied Crimea "governed by criminals" and he spurned a path of "cowardice" that might accommodate or excuse Moscow's actions in Ukraine.

The prosecutors earlier in the day asked for a 23-year jail sentence for Sentsov for allegedly organizing a terrorist group, planning terrorist attacks, and illegally acquiring explosives in early 2014, when Russia controlled the peninsula and helped orchestrate a hasty Crimean referendum on independence from the rest of Ukraine.

The following is a translation of Sentsov's defense, in which he stressed that "everyone understands that...a court of occupiers by definition cannot be just." It includes a brief exchange when the trial judge cuts off Sentsov, saying that the defendant "does not have the right to talk about just anything."

Oleh Sentsov: I actually still hope this will not be my last word. Like [fellow defendant Oleksandr Kolchenko], I am not going to ask for anything from you -- to expect consideration here, well, everyone understands that. ... A court of occupiers by definition cannot be just. Don't take it personally, your honor!

I would like to speak about something else. There was a man named Pontius Pilate. After he had sat on the moon for many years, he thought about what he had done. Then, when he was forgiven, he walked along a moonbeam and said to Ha-Notsri (Hebrew name for Jesus of Nazareth): "You know, you were right. The greatest sin on Earth is cowardice." This was written by the great Russian writer [Mikhail] Bulgakov in his novel The Master And Margarita. And I agree with him. Cowardice is the main and the worst sin on Earth. Betrayal is a personal form of cowardice................



To read further go to this link: rferl.org

Jailed Ukrainian Filmmaker Speaks Out Against Russian "Crimes"

Russian prosecutors are seeking a 23-year prison sentence for Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, a vocal opponent of Russia's annexation of Crimea, on charges of conspiracy to commit terrorist attacks. Speaking during his trial in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, Sentsov described the Russian government as "a criminal regime."

rferl.org
Nelson
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Ukrainian Film Director’s Defiant Court Statement: 'The Greatest Sin Is Cowardice' Empty Re: Ukrainian Film Director’s Defiant Court Statement: 'The Greatest Sin Is Cowardice'

Thu Aug 20, 2015 1:50 am
Beautiful quote from Bulgakov. Wonderful.
Master and Margarita is basically set around Andrevski Spusk in Kiev, near where Bulgakov was born.
Those of you who know the novel will know the significance of using it in such a context.
The Soviet lies verses the truth.
Nelson
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Ukrainian Film Director’s Defiant Court Statement: 'The Greatest Sin Is Cowardice' Empty Re: Ukrainian Film Director’s Defiant Court Statement: 'The Greatest Sin Is Cowardice'

Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:58 am
A little context for his quote, for anybody who doesn't know my favorite novel -

The Master and Margarita
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita

The Master and Margarita
https://prezi.com/q5obuyfkd9cp/the-master-and-margarita/
Bulgakov was in Stalin's great favor. [for a period.] He was commissioned to write plays in honor of Stalin's victories and lived among the elite in the Soviet Union. Perhaps the guilt Bulgakov felt at his own hypocrisy led him to unite himself with that of Pilate.
As it is often reiterated throughout the novel "cowardice is the worst sin," surely Bulgakov's shame at his own cowardice in participating in a regime with which he so disagreed manifested itself into the character of Pilate, whose own cowardice led to his greatest regret-- ordering the execution of Ha Nozhri Which eventually proves true when the Master is freed by Woland, the manuscript is restored to Margarita in perfect condition, and Woland and his posse leave Moscow Conclusion So in conclusion, we have within the novel, extensive symbolism of the character of the Master, as seen with the charred manuscript and the city of Jerusalem, which is itself representative of Stalin's Moscow. This provides a link between the Master and the citizens of the Soviet Union as a whole- particularly the oppressed artists and authors of the time
In addition to representing the Russian people, the Master also represents the novel's author Bulgakov as his imprisonment as a result of the publishing of part of his controversial manuscript reflects Bulgakov's fears of the consequences of publishing the novel "The Master and Margarita" itself
This fear has manifested itself into the character of Pontius Pilate, which Bulgakov has linked with himself in order to depict his shame at his own cowardice for remaining a member of the elite class and keeping his political views under wraps.


The quoted phrase are also the only words spoken by Jesua on the cross. According to the centurion when questioned by Pilate. ...
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Ukrainian Film Director’s Defiant Court Statement: 'The Greatest Sin Is Cowardice' Empty Re: Ukrainian Film Director’s Defiant Court Statement: 'The Greatest Sin Is Cowardice'

Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:31 pm
They along with Savchenko make the court system in Russia look so out of touch with reality. As if they're still living the Neanderthal days. Making them looking like real fools, internationally.
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Ukrainian Film Director’s Defiant Court Statement: 'The Greatest Sin Is Cowardice' Empty Re: Ukrainian Film Director’s Defiant Court Statement: 'The Greatest Sin Is Cowardice'

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