A/HRC/45/CRP.9 23. While in the temporary detention center in Simferopol, Mr. Sentsov was appointed a state-provided lawyer who appeared to have no genuine interest in working on his case. Mr Sentsov complained to the lawyer about the torture he suffered and the associated pressure to self-incriminate. The lawyer paid no attention to those allegations and took no action. 24. Mr. Sentsov was deported to the Russian Federation about a week later. Although he reported the torture both before and during trial, no charges have been brought against any individual involved. A Russian military court convicted Mr. Sentsov and sentenced him to 20 years of incarceration in a high-security prison, in spite of the fact that the main prosecution witness recanted in the court room saying he had been tortured to testify. 25. From autumn 2017 until his release in September 2019, he was held in the “White Bear” penal colony in Russia’s far north, thousands of kilometres away from Crimea. 26. Mr Sentsov reported numerous attempts by the FSB and penitentiary workers to compel him to accept Russian Federation citizenship. Requests from the Ukrainian consul and the Ukrainian ombudsperson to visit Mr. Sentsov were regularly refused by the authorities, on the grounds that Mr. Sentsov was a Russian Federation citizen. 27. Mr. Sentsov was released on 7 September 2019 as part of a simultaneous release of prisoners between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, after being pardoned by the President of the Russian Federation. 42