What should the world do to free Nadia Savchenko?

In Vira Savchenko’s opinion, Ukraine and the world are not doing enough to free her sister Nadia Savchenko. “I do not know what our politicians are doing, but Ukraine is not doing enough to free Nadia. Ukrainian officials say they are engaged in secret talks, but we see no results. Europe is now preoccupied by Greece, and so forgets even Ukraine itself to some extent, and the Savchenko case all the more so. Europeans only tell our reporters they are doing something... However, we, in turn, are doing everything to secure maximum sanctions against Russia, up to cutting it off from SWIFT payments system,” Savchenko told us.

Media reported that a Russian court could sentence Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko to 13 years in prison. Her lawyer Ilya Novikov made this statement recently. Let us recall that Savchenko marked one year spent in Russian captivity on June 17. On this occasion, events in her support were held in Ukraine, Rome, and Berlin. The rallies were certainly the right thing to do, as they provided another reminder to the world of Russia’s show trial of the Ukrainian soldier. However, is the world, and first of all Ukraine, firm enough in its fight to rescue the Ukrainian servicewoman? After all, as everyone has seen, the Russian delegation losing its voting rights in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has failed to make any impact.

Meanwhile, Novikov said live on Inter TV: “The Russian justice system has become a laughing stock over the past 20 years. Savchenko will not be let go just like that, for it would be a blow to the country’s leadership.” Let us recall that Savchenko was captured by militants in the Donbas past summer, and later transferred to Russia. There, she was charged with the murder of two Russian journalists, as well as illegal crossing of the Russian border.

The Day got in touch with Novikov and asked him to clarify some of the details of the impending trial of the Ukrainian pilot.

“My figure of 13 years was just a guess. Nobody should cling to it as if it was an accurate forecast. I expressed my opinion of how I would act had I been the judge who, on the one hand, was ordered to show impartiality, and on the other, to pronounce a guilty verdict. However, no one knows how the trial will take place in reality.

“Savchenko may get 20 years, and even more than that. It is clear that the verdict will be a guilty one: no judge will dare show mad courage and acquit the woman who was declared criminal throughout Russia. It just cannot happen in my country. Naturally, no judge will dare sentence Savchenko to, say, two years’ imprisonment either, as she is charged with the murder of two or more people, which normally carries the punishment of 20 years in prison.

“However, do not cling to figures. Savchenko’s sentence will be long, but it does not matter. It has nothing to do with the date of her release. Savchenko will come home to Ukraine depending on diplomacy, both secret and overt. Still, since Russia does not recognize anything, either PACE immunity, or the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights, there is no purely legal solution in this situation.

“Why do we think that we should keep working? It probably sounds rude, but our task now is to discredit the Russian court proceedings. People who will negotiate on the issue (I mean Europeans), they have an intuitive, instinctive respect for the court. Not everyone has an understanding of what a Russian ‘court’ is. We have it, though, and using the opportunities offered to us by the trial, we can provide information and materials on the case. While the trial is considered to be public, it all boils down to the prosecutor mumbling out a prepared text.

“We are now finishing our acquaintance with the Savchenko case file. We understand where the ‘holes’ in it are, and we need to bring this understanding to the people who will determine further negotiations’ course. It is necessary that these people will not have the opportunity to ‘wash their hands’ by relying on the court’s decision.

“However, as we know, the facts on the opposing side are all fakes. Even witnesses are already making false statements. Forensic examination has truths and lies mixed. As many as 40 volumes have been filed in the Savchenko case. Of these, at most two have any value. Our task is to put them forward and make them public during the trial.

“It is also unclear when the trial will begin and where it will be held. Besides old options of Moscow and Voronezh, we have seen a third added, I mean Rostov. I do not rule out the possibility that the trial will be moved there. According to the prosecution, Savchenko did not just cross the border into Russia, going straight from Luhansk to Voronezh. Now, according to the ‘updated’ version, it turns out that she crossed the border ‘independently’ (nobody was driving her blindfolded in a car) in Donetsk district of Rostov region. This means that her alleged ‘crime’ was committed in this area and the court may be held in Donetsk, a district seat of Rostov region, Russia.

“We understand that the decision on the venue will be taken so as to convenience of the prosecution and inconvenience of the defense. When will it be held, is also unclear. I think that the trial will begin in July. However, my more cautious colleagues think that it will be delayed until August.”