Kyiv, 17 July 2014 – Ukrainian delegation did not manage to meet with Nadiya Savchenko in Voronezh pre-trial detention center. The Russian party hinders communication of the Ukrainian pilot with her relatives as well as with representatives of Ukraine and the international community. – informed Andriy Valchyshyn, Head of the “Open Dialogue” Foundation at a briefing in Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “Ukrainian delegation together with Polish deputies arrived in Voronezh. Letters from her mother and from President Petro Poroshenko were handed to Nadiya Savchenko. Ukrainian Consul helped in passing Nadiya’s open letter to the Consul of the Russian Federation narrating the facts of her illegitimate imprisonment. On 30 June Nadiya was officially charged with suspicion of murder of 2 Russian journalists, detention was chosen as pre-trial measure. During all that time she was interrogated without a lawyer, the Russian side was hiding the fact of ongoing investigation. As to the false lawyer Shulzhenko provided to Nadiya Savchenko by the Russian state, he is said to be an FSB investigator and did not serve as a lawyer before,” said the Head of the Foundation.
Sister of the detained Ukrainian pilot Vira Savchenko claims Nadiya did not sign any confession documents. The lawyers have talked to Nadiya and prepared a claim as to the crime – her abduction in particular. Nadiya refused services of the lawyer Shulzhenko, order on Nadiya’s detention is being contested. Mother of the Ukrainian pilot, Mariya, thanked everyone who is helping free her daughter from captivity. At the same time she has got a question why Nadiya was not exchanged when she was still held captive on Ukrainian territory in Lugansk. “It means someone was not interested in that. I made a conclusion for myself that someone has probably received huge dividends as she was taken to Russia,” noted Mariya Savchenko.
MP Oleksandr Brygynets who was part of the Ukrainian delegation that headed to Voronezh to meet with Savchenko quoted another example of illegitimate treatment applied to Ukrainian citizens. With no explanation provided he was detained by Belarusian border guards, his diplomatic passport was confiscated, he was denied entry to Belarus and his passport was stamped accordingly. “The only reason why I was refused entry is my attitude to Putin, Russian aggression, Crimea annexation expressed publicly. The fact of my detention at the border proves that Belarus is also involved in the war against Ukraine. It proves that Belarus is part of Russia with its politics. Even formally neither Russia nor Belarus care to act in line with legal standards and explain their position on the citizens of Ukraine, it proves that Lukashenko does what his “daddy” tells him to,” noted Mr. Brygynets.
