Riigikogu votes to support petition to free Nadiya Savchenko
During its most recent session on Tuesday, the Estonian Parliament voted to accept a petition submitted by 66 members of parliament in which Russia is called upon to release illegally imprisoned Verkhovna Rada deputy Nadiya Savchenko.
The petition “In support of the release of the illegally imprisoned Nadiya Savchenko” indicated that by illegally detaining and imprisoning a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada (“Supreme Council of Ukraine”), Russia has violated and continues to violate international law, including the 1949 Geneva Convention regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, and the September 5, 2014 Minsk Protocol, whose Point 5 calls for the immediate release of all hostages and illegally detained persons.
In the petition, the Parliament of Estonia calls upon the Russian Federation to immediately release Nadiya Savchenko and return her to Ukraine. Parliament also calls upon the EU to impose entry bans on the Russian officials responsible for Savchenko’s detainment, imprisonment and illegal trial.
According to parliament member Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, Savchenko was a Ukrainian air force pilot who went to fight for her country in summer of 2014, when she fell into separatist hands, was handcuffed, and had a bag placed over her head before she was taken over the border into Russia.
“The Estonian Parliament’s petition is one way of displaying the fact that we support Ukraine, that we want Nadiya Savchenko freed, and that we want sanctions placed upon the Russian officials responsible for her imprisonment and illegal trial,” said former Minister of Foreign Affairs Pentus-Rosimannus. “Russia has once again proven with the Savchenko case that it does not follow international law and thus cannot be trusted as a reliable partner in managing world affairs, as much as we would like that to not be the case.”
Editor: Editor: Aili Sarapik