On 14 May 1980, prior to the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, he was arrested and received a 10-year sentence for "anti-Soviet activity".[2] The later influential (in Ukrainian politics)[3] Viktor Medvedchuk defended Stus during this trial in 1980.[4][5] In the closing speech from the defence Medvedchuk stated all of Stus' crimes deserved punishment; however, he also told the court that the defendant fulfilled his daily norm at the factory where he worked at the time, despite serious stomach problems.[4] Stus' requests to get another public defender were dismissed by the court.[2] In a 2018 interview with The Independent Dissident Yevhen Sverstyuk also recalled: "When Stus met with his appointed lawyer, he immediately felt that Medvedchuk was a man of the Komsomol-aggressive type, that he did not protect him, did not want to understand him and, in fact, was not interested in his case."[[6]BBC] Medvedchuk claimed he could not have operated differently: “Stus denounced the Soviet government, and didn’t consider it to be legitimate.