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Russian court rejects Ukraine ex-pilot’s lie detector demand

Nadezhda Savchenko earlier pleaded "not guilty" and told the court she planned to pass a lie detector test to prove her innocence

DONETSK/Rostov region/, September 29. /TASS/. A court in southern Russia has rejected a demand of former Ukrainian military pilot Nadezhda Savchenko on using a polygraph during her questioning on Tuesday, a TASS correspondent has said.

"I was absolutely serious when saying that I want to give evidence with the use of a lie detector. The investigators fear that their false case will be ruined if the polygraph shows that I’m not lying," Savchenko said.

Lawyer Mark Feygin earlier told TASS that the chances that the court would satisfy the motion were slim and he had not seen the results of a psychiatric examination yet.

"I ask to invite specialists to compensate for what the preliminary investigation has failed to do," he said.

The trial of Savchenko began in the Donetsk city court in the Rostov region on September 22. Savchenko denied her guilt, saying that the case against her is "lie." The Ukrainian also told the court she planned to pass a lie detector test to prove her innocence.

The court allowed Savchenko to give evidence at any moment. The questioning could take the whole day, the lawyer said.

Savchenko, 34, is charged with complicity in the murder of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine last summer. Savchenko also stands charged with attempted murder of civilians who could suffer as a result of artillery fire and illegally crossing the Russian border.

Russian investigators say that Savchenko, the gunner of a Mi-24 helicopter, joined the notorious Aidar battalion during combat operations in the much-troubled Luhansk region of Ukraine in June 2014.

Upon noting the position of a filming crew of the Russian State Broadcasting Company and other civilians, Savchenko allegedly reported the data to mortar-equipped personnel who opened fire on the crew and the civilians. As a result, correspondent Igor Kornelyuk and sound engineer Anton Voloshin were killed.

If found guilty, Savchenko faces up to 25 years in prison.