MOSCOW - A court in Russia's southern Rostov region will decide on Aug. 21 whether to change the territorial jurisdiction of the case opened against Ukrainian citizen Nadia Savchenko, who has been accused of involvement in the killing of Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine.
“The hearing of the Rostov Regional Court concerning a possible change of the [territorial] jurisdiction of Savchenko’s case is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. on August 21, 2015,” her lawyer Ilya Novikov said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, a regional court spokesman told Interfax that “the hearing into the petition will be held at the conference hall of the Rostov Regional Court on August 21 via video link.” It was reported earlier that following the preliminary hearing, a court in the Rostov region’s town of Donetsk had decided to refer a request for a change of territorial jurisdiction to the regional court.
“The case was sent to the court which will consider the defense lawyers’ request for a change of territorial jurisdiction,” the Donetsk City Court’s press service said.
Defense lawyers for Savchenko, who is charged with killing Russian journalists, insist that she should be tried in Moscow.
Savchenko has been held under arrest in Russia since July 2014 on charges of complicity in the killing of Russian journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin in the Luhansk Oblast.
She denies her guilt.
On July 13, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office reported that it had endorsed an indictment against Savchenko and forwarded the criminal case to the Donetsk City Court in the Rostov region.
On July 25, Savchenko was taken to Investigative Detention Facility 3 in Novocherkassk, Rostov region.
