In 2015 ukrainian movie director Oleg Sentsov was sentenced to 20 years in prison for acts of terrorism. He was accused and convicted for having set fire to a door to an FSB (Russian Security Police) building. Sentsov had previously supported the Euro Maidan protest movement in Kiev and had opposed to the Russian annexation of Crimea. He was convicted in an unfair trial, using evidence that had been extracted through torture There is a strong suspicion that the trial, conviction and harsh sentence is politically motivated. Human Rights' and International Movie makers' organizations have demanded Sentsov's immediate release.

This seminar will discuss how criticism can be labelled terrorism to avoid opposition but also how freedom of speech is violated in a conflict situation. The seminar will also discuss in particular how the political oppostion in Russia has been quashed by interventions from the regime - how demonstrators have been accused of rioting and violence against the police and sentenced to prison, mostly by the use of false statements and evidence.