The Kyiv Appeals Court has upheld a ruling by the Shevchenkivsky District Court to extend at least until Dec. 23 the arrest of Verkhovna Rada deputy Nadia Savchenko, who is suspected of actions aimed at violently changing or overthrowing the constitutional system or seizing power.
The court ruled on Nov. 20 to decline the Savchenko defense team’s appeal against the extension of her arrest term, lawyer Oleksandr Shadrin said.
Savchenko and her lawyers are currently studying the case against her and Volodymyr Ruban, whose investigation was completed on August 1.
Valentyn Rybin, Ruban’s lawyer and the head of Officer Corps, an organization for the liberation of prisoners of war, notified the investigation on Aug. 30 that he had finished studying the case.
Savchenko has been in custody since March 23. The Verkhovna Rada voted on March 22 to give its assent to Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko’s request that she be arrested and held criminally liable.
Ruban was detained at a checkpoint in Donbas with an arsenal of weapons he was apparently trying to smuggle from the occupied territory to territory of Ukraine under Kyiv’s control on March 8.
On Oct. 25, Kyiv’s Shevchenkivsky District Court extended Savchenko’s arrest until at least Dec. 23.
