The accusation isn't that The Sentient Group shorted the stock...

The accusation isn't that The Sentient Group shorted the stock but rather made their shares available for loaning so others may short it (there by making interest on the loan), you can still do this whilst having a positive opinion of a stock as you get paid regardless of share price movements. If this was the case, which hasn't been proven at all, I still don't see a problem with it. There was demand from the markets to take short positions and someone would have supplied the shares required, it doesn't matter if it was the largest shareholder or a number of smaller holders.

Additionally, hotcopper has this obsession with every drop in shareprice being the result of shorters regardless of macro conditions (such as the very weak oil price in thus case).

Elliot5, you really should take a step back for a second. You took a position, rightly or wrongly, and don't need to try and justify it to everyone on this forum or seek confirmation of it (this is in regards to your recent posts in general, rather than this thread specifically).