Russia's human rights organization views Ukrainian pilot Savchenko as political prisoner
MOSCOW. Oct 14 (Interfax) - The Memorial human rights center thinks that Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who was arrested in Russia on charges abetting the murder of Russian journalists, is a political prisoner.
"Together with the apparent political motive of the prosecution there are reasons to consider Savchenko as a political prisoner and demand her immediate and unconditional release," a statement posted on the Memorial website reads.
Many aspects of the criminal case against Savchenko give reason to consider it as political, it reads.
It was reported earlier that Savchenko, 31, fought with Ukraine's Aidar volunteer battalion. The Donbas militia captured her in June.
The Investigative Committee says Savchenko crossed into Russia under disguise as a refugee and was detained for identification in a populated locality. She was identified as a suspect in the murder of Russian journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin near Luhansk. An official charge of complicity to murder was brought against the pilot on July 9.
Savchenko is being held in a Moscow detention facility. The period of her imprisonment has been extended until October 30.
The Moscow City Court will process the appeal by the defendant's lawyers against her psychiatric examination on Monday.
Savchenko is the Number One entry on the Batkivshchina's party list in the early parliamentary elections in Ukraine, scheduled for October 26.
