[LINK] "Trial of Ukrainian pilot accused of murdering Russian journalists begins"

[rfmcdonald]

The Guardian's Alex Luhn reports from Russia about what seems to be a Russian show trial of a Ukrainian pilot.

The murder trial of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko has begun despite international condemnation and accusations that the charges have been fabricated for political purposes.

Savchenko – the best known Ukrainian citizen currently being held in Russia – is accused of directing artillery fire that killed two Russian journalists, Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin, during fighting in eastern Ukraine. She faces 25 years in prison on charges of murder, attempted murder and illegally crossing the border.

Savchenko and some western countries have said she should be considered a prisoner of war. The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe approved Savchenko as a member of the Ukrainian delegation in January, a position that entitles her to international immunity from prosecution.

Prosecutors at the trial in Donetsk in the Rostov region of Russia said on Tuesday that Savchenko, the first female military pilot in post-Soviet Ukraine, was working as a spotter for Ukrainian forces near Luhansk in June 2014. Motivated by “hatred and hostility towards … the civilian population of Luhansk region”, they said she called in an artillery strike on a rebel checkpoint where civilians and journalists were present. Investigators have claimed she was later detained after she crossed into Russia as a refugee without documents.

Savchenko has denied the charges and said she was captured by rebels in June 2014 and handed over to Russian authorities. Dressed in a Ukrainian folk costume and looking healthier than after her 80-day hunger strike earlier this year, Savchenko told the court that her case had been fabricated by the investigative committee.