Another Russian court has upheld the detention of Nadiya Savchenko; a Ukrainian prisoner of war who was captured in eastern Ukraine, reportedly kidnapped across the border, and now faces murder charges for the deaths of two journalists who were almost certainly not killed by Savchenko.
Judge Yury Pasyunin of the Moscow City Court rejected Savchenko’s appeal against the ruling extending her detention until Feb 13, 2015. Nadiya Savchenko, who resigned from her military post after being elected to parliament in Ukraine’s October elections, had declared before the ruling was passed that if the appeal was rejected, she would remain indefinely on the hunger strike she began in protest at the failure to provide her with treatment for a serious ear inflammation.
“I will continue my hunger strike until I return to Ukraine. This is not suicide but the only method of fighting available to me”, she stated.
Her lawyer Mark Feygin reported on Monday evening that he had visited Savchenko in SIZO hoping to persuade her to stop the hunger strike which she began on Dec. 13. He failed.
Savchenko's lawyer, Mark Feygin, says that his client is not receiving proper medical treatment, nor has the prosecution presented evidence of Savchenko's guilt:
At the hearing on Monday, Feygin pointed out that in accordance with a judgement from the Supreme Court, the prosecution is obliged to present material directly incriminating the defendant. The investigators claim to have such material, but have not produced it. Feygin added: “If you have such material, but you are not for the moment showing them, then let her await the time when she and her defence are able to review the material without being deprived of her liberty.
Feygin asked for the Ukrainian MP and representative to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to be released on bail of 1 million roubles. He stressed that her ear inflammation was not being treated in SIZO where there is no otolaryngologist.
The defence have presented evidence indicating that Nadiya Savchenko was already held by the militants when the TV journalists died in shellfire, and thus has an alibi.