Ukraine pilot raises finger at court, vows

A Ukrainian military pilot on trial in Russia over the killing of two journalists defiantly raised her middle finger at the court on Wednesday and vowed to press on with a hunger strike.

Nadiya Savchenko's high-profile case has raised deep concern in the West and in Kiev, where the government denounced the trial as a "farce" and demanded her immediate release.

"I will continue my dry hunger strike," the 34-year-old said in her final address to the court in the small Russian town of Donetsk.

The Iraq war veteran, who has been held by Russia since June 2014, first announced her protest action last Thursday, rejecting both food and water.

Appearing feverish and visibly thinner after days of fasting, she said Wednesday she would continue the hunger strike if the court takes longer than a week to announce a verdict and sentence.

"Maybe I will live that long," Savchenko declared.

The judge said the verdict would be handed down on March 21 and 22.
"Here's my final word," Savchenko said, climbing onto a bench in her glass enclosure and raising her middle finger in a defiant gesture at the judge and prosecution.

Refusing both food and water is known in Russia as a "dry hunger strike" and was a method of last resort for some Soviet dissidents under Communism.

- 'Nothing to lose' -

Savchenko is seen by her compatriots as a symbol of resistance against the Kremlin, accused of fuelling the conflict in eastern Ukraine which has claimed more than 9,000 lives since April 2014.

The prosecution has sought a 23-year jail sentence for Savchenko over the killing of two journalists from Russian public broadcaster VGTRK in shelling in Ukraine's eastern Lugansk region in June, two months after the pro-Russia uprising began.

Prosecutors say she was involved in her capacity as a volunteer in a Ukrainian battalion.
But she denies the charges and says she was kidnapped even before the attack and smuggled across the border into Russia.

One of her lawyers, Nikolai Polozov, said Savchenko's health had significantly deteriorated over the past few days, adding that she was feverish and her temperature had risen to about 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).

"Remember -- we are playing with my life. And I will win," Savchenko told the court. "The stakes are high and I have nothing to lose."

Her lawyers said they will not be able to persuade Savchenko to halt her hunger strike unless the Russian authorities release her immediately or at least provide guarantees that they will do so.

"She will either be force-fed or die," said Polozov.

- 'Kangaroo court' -
Savchenko, who has been elected to Ukraine's parliament since being detained, used her final address to predict the downfall of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"There will be a Maidan in Russia," she said, referring to the popular uprising that ousted a Kremlin-backed regime in Kiev in 2014.

Savchenko then sang Ukraine's national anthem as her mother and sister joined in from the public benches, placing their hands over their hearts.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called Savchenko's trial a "farce" being conducted in a "kangaroo court".

"We demand Nadiya's immediate, unconditional release and her return to Ukraine," Poroshenko said on Facebook, a call backed by the United States and the European Union.

Germany said her trial went against "the spirit and letter of the Minsk agreement," a peace deal aimed at ending the Ukraine conflict.

Five EU member states have also called for sanctions against Russian officials involved in her detention, according to Lithuania, one one of the countries involved.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any comments on the trial were "unacceptable"

Savchenko has fasted before to protest the accusations against her but has never before refused water.

Her lawyers said her mother and sister as well as Ukrainian doctors and diplomats would not be allowed to see Savchenko before March 21.

Hundreds of angry Ukrainians picketed Russian diplomatic missions in the country, pelting them with eggs, and, in the western city of Lviv, with smoke bombs and fireworks.
Source: AFP