The murder trial of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko
has begun despite international condemnation and accusations that the charges
have been fabricated for political purposes.
Savchenko – the best known Ukrainian
citizen currently being held in Russia – is accused of directing
artillery fire that killed two Russian journalists, Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, during fighting
in eastern Ukraine. She faces 25 years in prison on charges of murder,
attempted murder and illegally crossing the border.
Savchenko and some western countries
have said she should be considered a prisoner of war. The parliamentary
assembly of the Council of Europe approved Savchenko as a member of the Ukrainian
delegation in January, a position that entitles her to international immunity
from prosecution.
Prosecutors at the trial in Donetsk in
the Rostov region of Russia said on Tuesday that Savchenko, the first female
military pilot in post-Soviet Ukraine, was working as a spotter for Ukrainian forces near
Luhansk in June 2014. Motivated by “hatred and hostility towards … the civilian
population of Luhansk region”, they said she called in an artillery strike on a
rebel checkpoint where civilians and journalists were present. Investigators
have claimed she was later detained after she crossed into Russia as a refugee
without documents.
Savchenko has denied the charges and
said she was captured by rebels in June 2014 and handed over to Russian
authorities. Dressed in a Ukrainian folk costume and looking healthier than
after her 80-day hunger strike earlier this year, Savchenko told the court that her
case had been fabricated by the investigative committee.
“Never in my life have I fired at
unarmed people. I have never been a spotter,” she told the court. At one point
she said “Glory to Ukraine”, a rallying cry often heard during the protests
that ousted the former president Viktor Yanukovych and during the ensuing conflict in
eastern Ukraine.
Savchenko spoke and gestured to her
sister, Vera, through the glass of the dock. Only Russian state television
journalists were allowed into the courtroom, with the rest having to watch the
proceedings on a live video feed.
Irina Voloshina, Voloshin’s widow,
testified via videolink, but could offer little detail about whether her husband
took the proper safety precautions.
Savchenko told Voloshin’s father, who
also testified, that she did not kill his son but was sorry for his loss. “Our
guys also died,” she said.
It is widely expected that a guilty
verdict will be delivered. Last month, a Russian court
sentenced Oleg Sentsov, a
pro-Ukrainian film director from Crimea, to 20 years in prison over accusations
that he planned terrorist acts after the peninsula was annexed by Russia last
year. Amnesty
International described proceedings as “redolent of Stalinist-era show trials”.
His alleged accomplice, activist Alexander Kolchenko, was sentenced to 10
years.
Earlier this month, the European parliament adopted a
resolution condemning the “abduction, illegal detention and sentencing” of
Savchenko, Sentsov and Kolchenko, as well as Estonian security
agent Eston Kohver, who
was captured in ambiguous circumstances on the border last year. It demanded
their release and called on the EU to place sanctions on officials responsible
for their prosecution.
The US and Britain have argued that
Savchenko’s detention is a violation of the Minsk
peace plan struck
in February, under which Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange all hostages and
unlawfully detained people.
Ukraine has sought the help of David
Cameron, the British prime minister, and other leaders in securing Savchenko’s
release but has shied away from a prisoner swap. It had previously been
speculated that Sentsov and Savchenko could be swapped for two Russian special
forces soldiers captured by government forces in eastern Ukraine, but the
president, Petro Poroshenko, said in an interview this month that this was “not a topic of exchange”.
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