Lawyers of Ukrainian Member of Parliament Nadiia Savchenko, who is being suspected of plotting a terrorist attack on the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, have refused to cooperate with their client.
"I and my colleague Dmytro Bugay are no longer cooperating with Nadiia Savchenko in connection with the constant interference of her sister Vira [Savchenko] in the advocacy process of the defense. Through her activities, she hinders the attorneys and Nadiia herself," Savchenko's lawyer Oleh Solovey told an UNIAN correspondent.
Solovey also noted that he and Bugay would no longer represent Savchenko's interests in court on May 14 to extend the preventive measure for Nadiia.
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"We will not attend the hearing," the lawyer said.
According to him, Savchenko has no defenders for the time being.
"Maybe they will appear in the evening, or Monday morning," the lawyer added.
In early April, Savchenko's lawyer Viktor Chevguz left her as well. He said they had different views on conduct of her defense.
As UNIAN reported, the Verkhovna Rada on March 22 green-lighted the arrest of MP Nadiia Savchenko, a former Ukrainian pilot released from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner-of-war exchange. Ukraine's prosecutors charged Savchenko with plotting a coup and an act of terror in Ukraine, following an elaborate sting operation by SBU Security Service agents, who initially targeted former hostage swap negotiator Volodymyr Ruban.
The latter is believed to have conspired with Savchenko. Savchenko is suspected of committing crimes under Part 1 of Article 109 (actions aimed at the forcible change or overthrow of the constitutional order or seizure of state power); Part 1 of Article 14 (preparations for a crime), Part 2 of Article 28 (committing a crime by a group of persons, a group of persons by prior agreement, an organized group or a criminal organization), Article 112 (an attempted attack on the life of a public figure), Part 3 of Article 258 (an act of terror); Part 1 of Article 258-3 (creation of a terrorist group or organization) and Part 1 of Article 263 (illegal possession of weapons, ammunition or explosives) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
On March 23, Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky district court ruled that Savchenko be remanded in custody for 59 days without bail.
She announced in the courtroom she would go on hunger strike, denying plans to flee Ukraine.
On March 29, Kyiv's Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the first instance court to keep Savchenko behind bars for a period of 59 days until May 20.
