Press releases
Russia: Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko must get retrial after 'deeply politicised' trial
‘Nadiya never had a hope of proving her innocence’ - John Dalhuisen
Amnesty International is insisting that the Ukrainian helicopter pilot Nadiya Savchenko is given a retrial after a judge in her a highly politicised murder trial in southern Russia today began reading a lengthy verdict which is widely expected to be guilty.
Some media correspondents were barred from the courtroom in Donetsk and early reports from Russian news agencies appeared to indicate incorrectly that Savchenko had been given a definitive guilty verdict. However, her lawyer Mark Feigin told journalists: “You heard the first introductory and explanatory parts, some media hurried with the guilty verdict. It will be guilty of course, you need not doubt that, there is no doubt and there will be a long sentence.”
Amnesty International Europe and Central Asia Director John Dalhuisen said:
“It is abhorrent to send Nadiya Savchenko to prison after such a flawed, deeply politicised trial.“The litany of dubious procedures and decisions by the presiding judge over the course of this trial shows a clear contempt for due process and suggests Nadiya never had a hope of proving her innocence.“The only way justice can be delivered both for Nadiya, and the journalists who were killed, is for there to be a full and impartial investigation into her allegations and a retrial that remains free of political interference and complies with international fair trial standards.”