Savchenko's lawyer petitions for three-judge hearing
MOSCOW. Sept 15 (Interfax) - The defense lawyer for Nadiya Savchenko has asked the court that her case be heard by a panel of three judges, says Mark Feigin, the defense lawyer for the Ukrainian woman.
"The defense has petitioned for the Savchenko case to be heard by a panel of three judges," the lawyer wrote on his Twitter account.
Concurrently, he said the defense team has petitioned the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concerning a delegate's immunity with the respect to the accused.
Savchenko led the Batkivshchyna party list in the October 26, 2014 early Ukrainian elections and was elected to the Ukrainian parliament. Later Verkhovna Rada made her a member of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE, this status was officially confirmed during a PACE session.
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 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 Rostov Region.
On July 25 the woman was delivered to a pre-trial detention facility number three in Novocherkassk, Rostov Region.
