“Whether dead or alive, I have already won.” That was the message in a note handwritten on March 7 by Nadiya Savchenko, which Ukraine’s Hromadske Radio posted on its website. “I will leave jail on my own terms, showing the entire world that Russia may be forced into submission if you remain as fearless and unyielding as me.”
This courageous young woman, a former military pilot (a veteran of the war in Iraq), a member of the Verkhovna Rada and of Ukraine’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, has been illegally imprisoned in Russia – since being abducted from eastern Ukraine in June 2014 – for over 600 days. She is a political prisoner being held as a pawn by Russia.
In yet another demonstration of the cruelty and complete depravity of the Putin regime, Ms. Savchenko was not allowed to deliver her final statement on March 3, the day that closing arguments in her case were heard. She declared a dry hunger strike – which means she did not consume food or even water.
March 9, the day her trial was to resume, was proclaimed a Global Day of Support for Nadiya Savchenko. Demonstrations in support of Nadiya were held not just in her beloved Ukraine, but also in Russia, Canada, the United States, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, England, Egypt, Malta, Greece, Bulgaria, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Hungary, Israel, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Georgia, Australia, Cyprus, Uruguay, Argentina, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Norway, Romania, and, no doubt, other countries – a true worldwide movement.
On March 9, Ms. Savchenko told the reconvened court hearing: “There will be a maidan in Russia. Putin won’t be able to stay in power on the blood of the people.” She also declared that “The court stole a week from my life” by arbitrarily ruling that her final statement would be delivered six days after closing arguments were presented. And now there is another delay – of almost two more weeks. The sentence – prosecutors have asked for a 23-year prison term – is expected to be handed down on March 21-22. “You are playing with my life,” Ms. Savchenko stated. Proof that this is indeed the case came once again. After agreeing that Ukrainian doctors could visit the hunger-striking prisoner, Russia reneged on its promise, citing Ms. Savchenko’s behavior in court on March 9.
The world knows the Savchenko case is a political show trial, a travesty of justice, a violation of all conventions about the treatment of prisoners of war and clear defiance of the Minsk agreements. Alexei Sobchenko, a political analyst and former U.S. State Department employee, wrote in an opinion piece on the Atlantic Council website and on newsweek.com: “Has there ever been a more absurd case in history – a POW being prosecuted on trumped-up criminal charges in the country that is technically not involved in the war?”
Nadiya Savchenko is, simply put, Vladimir Putin’s hostage. He has the power to order her release. And that is something world leaders must demand ever more forcefully – with both words and deeds that ramp up the pressure on Mr. Putin and Russia.