January 14, Donetsk city court in Rostov region, Russia, continued the hearing in the case of Ukrainian fighter pilot Nadia Savchenko, Mediazona outlet reported.
Before the court session started, Savchenko met the Ukrainian consul and told him another month if hunger strike is “not a problem” for her.
January 13, the pilot’s lawyer Ilya Novikov said that journalists present in the court were banned to film or take photos of Savchenko. Earlier, another lawyer from her defense team Nikolai Polozov reported that the pilot continues her hunger strike demanding to release her; however, it causes problems to her health as she lost more than 15 kilograms in almost a month of the strike.
As is known, December 25, Rostov region court in Russia denied the defense team’s appeal on the decision to extend Savchenko’s arrest. The court ruled that the pilot stays in detention until April 2016. December 18, Savchenko started a hunger strike, the second one since the beginning of her detention in Russia. According to her defense team, she already lost more than 15 kilograms and faces serious health problems. Savchenko demands to release her from detention and let her go back to Ukraine.
Nadia Savchenko, MP and former Ukraine’s Air Force officer, was captured by pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine in summer 2014. She says they captured her, forcefully brought her to Russia and passed her to Russian investigative authorities. Savchenko is charged with murder of two Russian reporters who worked in eastern Ukraine without any permission of the Ukrainian government. She is also charged with the illegal crossing of the Russian border. The pilot, her defense team and the Ukrainian government deny all charges, demanding to release her.
