Lawyer of Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko, who was kidnapped in Luhansk region and arrested in Russia, Mark Feygin has said that Russian party won't be able to prove her guilt.
“As of today, there is no evidence of Savchenko’s guilt,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday, Aug. 7.
“In that situation the majority of procedures can’t be carried out, as the investigation was conducted on the territory of Luhansk region. This is the territory of sovereign state of Ukraine and procedural steps must be carried out there. There’s no alternative to this procedure. There’s only one procedure – law enforcers address corresponding agencies in Ukraine that are to conduct these procedures by themselves,” the lawyer said and added: “It is impossible to establish Savchenko’s guilt.”
According to Feygin, Ukrainian and Russian law enforcement agencies must cooperate in order to conduct investigation in Ukraine.
“It’s impossible in the current situation. There’s no use to talk about records of any classifying elements of crime that are being discussed by Russia’s investigative committee and pre-trial investigators,” he said.
According to the lawyer, based on the accusation against Savchenko, she might be sentenced to imprisonment for up to 25 years.
“She’s accused not only of a premeditated murder – she’s accused of complicity in murder two or more persons. The most sever punishment [in this case] is life sentence. Women in Russia can’t be sentenced to life, thus she’ll get 25 years at maximum,” the lawyer said.
Lawyer Ilya Novikov said that Savchenko’s living conditions are acceptable and she is cheerful.
“She is cheerful, her living conditions are acceptable. She said she’s alone in a [prison] cell meant for 5 people. There is a shower; drinking-water and food are delivered [to her],” he said.
According to the lawyer, Savchenko doesn’t complain of living conditions.
Novikov also said that the quotes from Savchenko’s interview with Life News were out of the context and had significantly distorted the defendant’s position, for example, the quote that separatists allegedly didn’t hit Malaysian Boeing. According to the terms of investigation, for now Savchenko can’t talk to press, only to her lawyers.
Defenders also said that in the current situation in Russia, Savchenko’s future could be decided only with the assistance of international judicial authorities, particularly of the European Court of Human Rights.
