Savchenko trial to begin in Russian Donetsk town on Sept 22
DONETSK, Rostov Region. Sept 15 (Interfax) - A court in the town of Donetsk in Rostov Region has set September 22 as the date for opening the trial in the case of the Ukrainian woman pilot Nadiya Savchenko charged in the killing of Russian journalists, her defense lawyer said.
"The first four days of the Savchenko hearings have been set: September 22, 29 and 30 and October 1," lawyer Mark Feigin wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, the court extended Savchenko's custody period until January 16 at the behest of prosecutors, thus rejecting her lawyer's request for her release on bail.
Savchenko has been held in Russian custody since July 2014 on the charge of abetting the murder of journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin in the Luhansk region. She pleaded not guilty. Ukraine demands her release.
On July 13 the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said it had approved the indictment and sent Savchenko's criminal dossier to the Donetsk town court in the Rostov Region.
On July 25 Savchenko was delivered to pre-trial detention facility number three in Novocherkassk, Rostov Region.