Press release, 21.03.2016
Co-Chair of YABLOKO’s Human Rights Defenders faction Valery Borshchev claims that the trial of Nadezhda Savchenko discredits the Russian system of justice.

Today the Donetsk municipal court of the Rostov Region has found Ukrainian pilot Savchenko guilty of murder, the sentencing will take two days.

“This farce, there is no other word for it, causes a public outcry in Russia. The accusations of murdering the journalists and [illegal] crossing of the Russian boarder have not been proved. The stance of the prosecution is done in a rough-and-ready manner, their statements come into conflict. They apparently were not thinking about the consequences when they conceived all this. But the consequences do exist and therefore it has become obvious that this trial is a shame,” Valery Borshchev commented.

He said that as a member of the Public Monitoring Committee he had visited Nadezhda Savchenko in her custody suite and had talked to her.

“I should mention that she is very strong. She conducted herself with true dignity. And the officials of the pretrial detention centre treated her with respect. She is a military officer, a true military officer, and she follows the laws of officer’s honour and duty. And she behaves accordingly,” the human rights defender emphasised.

“I hope that Savchenko will be released soon. Reason will prevail and the movement in defense of her supported by the YABLOKO party will bear fruit. I believe that Nadezhda Savchenko will be home soon. God grant her good health,” Borshchev said.

Today morning Moscow YABLOKO activists have conducted a series of one-person pickets in support of Nadezhda Savcheko opposite the Kremlin.