Pavlo Klimkin
Minister
for Foreign Affairs, Ukraine
Sir, “Nadiya” means
“hope”. Nadiya Savchenko, a Ukrainian army officer and Iraq war veteran, a
member of Ukraine’s parliament and the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary
Assembly, recently spent eight days on dry hunger strike. She has put her life
at great risk as the last measure to protest against Russia’s mockery of law
and morals.
Ms Savchenko
is one of more than 20 Ukrainians illegally detained on fabricated charges in
Russia and occupied Crimea, including film director Oleg Sentsov and
antifascism activist Oleksandr Kolchenko. Last summer, Ms Savchenko was
defending her country in eastern Ukraine. She was taken prisoner and trafficked
to Russia. She ended up in a Russian court facing trumped-up charges of murder.
World
leaders, politicians, diplomats, intellectuals and Nobel laureates have been
calling for an immediate release of Ms Savchenko. Thousands of people have
joined numerous rallies and demonstrations across the world as well as Twitter
storms demanding that Russia free Ms Savchenko. Petro Poroshenko, the president
of Ukraine, has been pushing for her release during the talks with President
Vladimir Putin.
He has also called upon the world to help us make the Russian
leader hear our humanitarian call. Russia has been deaf to the calls of Ukraine
and the world. Yet, we cannot but hope that Ms Savchenko’s life and freedom will
be saved. Pending her conviction, I address the world with a request of
literally vital importance: help us to save a Ukrainian woman in Russia —
Nadiya #Savchenko.
While
Russia’s judiciary ignores hard evidence proving Ms Savchenko’s innocence,
while Russia’s propaganda demonises her in the media, we call for increased
international diplomatic and public pressure on the Russian leadership with a
simple demand: free Ms Savchenko. By letting her go, Russia will keep alive the
hope that Moscow is able to be guided by legal arguments and the highest moral
considerations.
In a note
handed to a Ukrainian consul on March 7, Ms Savchenko wrote from behind bars:
“Dead or alive, I have already prevailed. With Ukraine in my heart.”
A Ukrainian
woman prevailed over the Russian system. She deserves your support to defend
her cause and hope for justice.
No comments:
Post a Comment