Basmanny Court does not recognize Savchenko’s PACE Immunity

The Basmanny Court of Moscow refused to recognize Nadiya Savchenko’s immunity as a member of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Also, according to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the “LNR” militants released Savchenko from captivity and she crossed the Russian border on her own.

This was announced by her lawyer, Nikolay Polozov, on his Twitter-page.

“Judge Karpov refused to accept Nadiya Savchenko’s immunity, despite the fact that it is fully recognized by PACE itself. Ultimately, the decision on Savchenko’s immunity will be made not by ‘Basmanny justice’ but by the ECHR. There it will be decided fairly,” the lawyer wrote.

Earlier, another one of Savchenko’s lawyers, Ilya Novikov, published the conclusion of the PACE Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs on his Facebook page. This described, in detail, the provisions of Savchenko’s immunity as a member of PACE. In particular, it is noted that she “can no longer be subject to any detention or prosecution measures.”

“The Rules Committee has taken the view that the immunity of members of the Assembly also extends to acts carried out by the member before the start of his or her term of office in the Assembly, including where proceedings against him or her have already been initiated prior to taking up that office (principle of the protection of the parliamentary institution, independence and the availability of the member to fulfil his or her term of office), with the effect than any ongoing proceedings are suspended for the duration of the term of office,” says the Committee statement.

However, the court found the references to this document, which were attached by the lawyer to the case file, to be inconclusive, because the “translation of the document was carried out by the applicant.”

The lawyers also noted that the case file from the Russian Investigative Committee states that Nadiya Savchenko was captured by “LNR” militants, then released, then afterwards she illegally crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border. They insist that she was kidnapped and forcibly taken into Russian territory.

During the court hearing, an ambulance had to be called for Nadiya Savchenko because of heart pain. After receiving aid, she was returned to the courtroom. Doctors concluded her blood pressure and heart rate were normal and that she may continue to participate in the hearing. 

Savchenko’s lawyer Mark Feygin made a statement about the fabrication of the case during the hearing and demanded her immediate release from custody.