KYIV. June 15 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada human rights commissioner Liudmyla Denisova has said that the administration of the penal colony in Russia's Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, where Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov is serving his sentence, denied her access to the inmate.
"I met with the director of the penal colony and the head of the penitentiary department in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. The latter told me that I cannot see Oleh Sentsov under any circumstances. At the same time, he did not tell me anything as to why he denied me access," Denisova said in a video posted on her Facebook page.
The video shows the Ukrainian ombudsman standing near the penitentiary gates.
According to Denisova, when she asked about Sentsov's condition, the penitentiary department head refused to provide any information on that score.
"That is why he asked us to leave the premises of the penal colony," she said.
"I have phoned the human rights commissioner of the Russian Federation and am now awaiting her reply," she said.
Denisova arrived in Salekhard earlier on Friday.
It became known later that Denisova had come to the penal colony and was expecting a meeting with the penitentiary's administration.
Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova, for her part, told the coordination council of Ural Federal District ombudsmen in Yekaterinburg on Friday that Denisova was visiting the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District in violation of earlier reached agreements.
It was reported that Denisova insisted at talks in Russia on June 14 that she should be allowed to visit Sentsov in prison promptly, not after June 22, as was Moscow's proposal.