You're reading: Lawyers expect Savchenko’s custodial term to be prolonged

DONETSK, Rostov region - A Russian court may decide on July 30 to extend the custodial term of Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko, who has been accused of involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine last year.

“Today she is no longer under the jurisdiction of the [Russian] Investigative Committee. She is under a court’s jurisdiction. And her custodial term may be prolonged for the period of the trial – it is six months, as a rule – as a result of the preliminary hearing,” Savchenko’s lawyer Mark Feygin told Interfax on July 30.

The defense team, however, will also ask the court to change the Ukrainian’s restraining measure, he said.

“There is no need to hold her in custody and take her every day to the court building 150 kilometers away. We will discuss this issue in court as well. I am worried that Nadia Savchenko will be transported from the remand center in Novocherkassk. It means that she will have to wake up very early. And the weather is currently hot. When will she be able to get some rest if the trial takes place every day?” the lawyer said.

On Thursday, the lawyers will also ask the court to forward the case to a Moscow court, which will have to review it on its merits, Feygin said.

“The submission of other petitions will depend on the way the trial is conducted and the judge,” he added.

It was reported earlier that the Donetsk City Court in Russia’s Rostov region would hold the preliminary hearing of Savchenko’s case on July 30.