Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary of the Russian President, commented on the proposal of European parliamentaries to introduce sanctions against Vladimir Putin while Nadezhda Savchenko is detained in Russian prison. Peskov is convinced that foreign interference into this judicial process is unacceptable.
Earlier, the Polish MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski published in Twitter a call to impose sanctions against the Russian President and other 28 persons which was addressed to Federica Mogherini, on behalf of some members of the European Parliament. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation accuses Savchenko of involvement in the death of VGTRK journalists, Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, in Donbass.
“We cannot accept interference in judicial processes of our country in strict accordance with current Russian legislation, including the process of Savchenko. Any foreign interference is unacceptable. There are certain procedures that are performed at the moment. Any comments are also impossible and unacceptable during the lawsuit,” Peskov says.
According to the investigation, during hostilities near Lugansk in the summer of 2014, the Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko joined the battalion “Aidar”. She was engaged in covert surveillance and correction of artillery fire on the positions of militias. The civilians were at gunpoint. As a result, VGTRK journalists Igor Korneluk and Anton Voloshin were killed. After that Savchenko tried to cross the Russian border under the guise of a refugee, but she was detained by Russian authorities on the border.
In the summer of that year she was charged with accessory to murder. In 2015 Savchenko was recognized as a co-perpetrator of the murder. She faces 25 years in prison. Savchenko denies any wrongdoing and claims that she is being unlawfully detained.
The Ukrainian authorities demand to return Savchenko home, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said that the trial of Savchenko violated the provisions of the Minsk agreements. The Russian side has denied the accusations, reminding Kerry that the Minsk agreements is not a word about Savchenko.