The Ukrainian pilot has been under arrest in Voronezh, Russia, for already a month. At the beginning of August Nadia filed a statement about her kidnapping to the Investigation Committee of the RF. For three days Savchenko was testifying; after her testimony is verified, Russian law enforcers will decide whether to launch a criminal action regarding the kidnapping of the Ukrainian woman. However, the lawyers of Nadia Savchenko think that it is hardly possible – this case does not meet the interests of the Russian power.
It will be reminded that Russia suspects Savchenko of being involved in the death of journalists of the All-Russian State TV and Radio Company Igor Korneliuk and Anton Voloshin in the Donbas. The lawyers think that it is impossible to prove the guilt of the Ukrainian.
“The journalists were killed in Luhansk oblast, which is the territory of the sovereign state of Ukraine. The only procedure of legal proceedings is to appeal to the Ukrainian law enforcers, let them do what is necessary: investigate the place of crime, make examinations, interrogate the witnesses, etc.,” noted Savchenko’s lawyer Mark Feygin. So, Russia won’t be able to legally look for the evidence that would prove the pilot’s guilt.
So far the Russian Investigation Committee has presented in court two anonymous testimonies of the people who saw a video where a volunteer of the battalion Aidar retells Savchenko’s words, “Everyone to the armor!” These words are supposed to be proof that Nadia was a commander in Aidar, where she served as a volunteer. According to Mark Feygin, the two mysterious witnesses are the members of terrorist battalion “Zoria.” Interestingly, part of the investigators who are working on Nadia Savchenko’s case, also investigated similar cases during the conflict in South Ossetia – at the moment the Ukrainian lawyers are studying this “experience.”
Until September 9 Nadia will be kept under arrest in the pre-trial prison of Russian Voronezh. Another defender of Savchenko, Illia Novikov said that the Ukrainian pilot takes it on the chin in prison. “Nadia is kept alone in a cell meant for five people. There is a shower, drinking water, she receives parcels – she has no complaints about the amenities. However, Nadia is worried about the essence of her case, the fact that she was meanly kidnapped, and illegally transferred to another country,” Illia Novikov emphasized. The lawyers consider that Nadia will probably be freed by diplomatic, rather than legal, measures, via international pressure on Russia. In particular, in July the human rights activists appealed to the European Court on Human Rights concerning Savchenko. “Our aim is to make the court rule that Nadia should be released from prison and brought to Ukraine. Hopefully, it will happen sooner than in half a year – such is the minimum period of time needed for the European Court to consider the complaint,” said the representative of the pilot in the European Court Valentyna Telychenko.
Ukraine launched a criminal case regarding the kidnapping of Nadia Savchenko, but, according to lawyer Volodymyr Bohatyr, its investigation is too slow. Mark Feygin considers, “The Ukrainian government is helping Savchenko. However, the question should be broached broader. What if Ukrainian servicemen for some reason will pass the border and find themselves under the action of the investigative bodies of Russia? The number of the hostages will increase. It is appropriate to start certain procedures in International Criminal Court. The appeal to the international instances is efficient: proof of this is Yukos Oil Company’s case versus Russia.”
