Ukraine’s security service has announced the capture of a Russian army major who was allegedly delivering explosives to pro-Kremlin rebels in the separatist east. More than 6,500 people have been killed in the conflict.
Advertisement
The hearing was soon adjourned to consider an appeal by the defence to have the trial held in Moscow, where it would receive more publicity.
“Going to Donetsk. Taking a flak jacket with me”, one of Savchenko’s lawyers, Mark Feigin, said on Twitter.
Court representative Tatyana Diyeva told reporters that the court had sent the appeal to the regional court to decide where the case should be heard.
Donetsk has no jail and Savchenko has to be transported to hearings from Novocherkassk, a city almost two hours away by auto.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called Friday’s constitutional court ruling “an important step that moves us closer to momentous changes for the state”.
The two Russian journalists were killed in shelling at 11.40 hrs outside Luhansk in June 2014.
Treasury also identified a number of subsidiaries of Russian state-run bank Vnesheconomnbank and Russian-run oil company Rosneft-both of which the U.S. sanctioned a year ago.
The prosecution also accuses her of illegally crossing the border into Russian Federation on June 23, 2014, where she was detained.
Savchenko has denied the claims and refused food for more than 80 days in protest over her detention.
The defence argues that phone bills confirmed she had already been taken prisoner by separatists when the journalists died, and accuses the investigation of doctoring video evidence.
Russian justice denied Savchenko a trial by jury, which statistically is more likely to deliver a not guilty verdict. Since her arrest, Savchenko has been elected as a deputy in Ukraine’s Parliament and is a delegate to the Council of Europe, giving her diplomatic immunity.
Another lawyer, Nikolai Polozov, said worldwide observers were present in the courthouse.
Smith, the director of the Treasury office that issued the sanctions, said in a statement that these actions underscore the Obama administration’s effort to “maintain pressure on Russian Federation for violating worldwide law and fueling the conflict in eastern Ukraine”.
Advertisement
“The sentence has already been approved and it will be as hard as possible”, Novikov said.
