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Ex-Ukrainian pilot Savchenko trial to continue in 2016 — lawyer

Earlier the lawyers couldn't say whether the sentence to Savchenko who is charged with complicity in the murder of two Russian journalists in east Ukraine will be given before the New Year or after it
Nadezhda Savchenko Fyodor Larin/TASS
Nadezhda Savchenko
© Fyodor Larin/TASS

ROSTOV-ON-DON, December 14. /TASS/. The court of the town of Donetsk in the Russian southern Rostov region will continue hearing the case of former Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko in 2016, lawyer Nikolay Polozov said on Monday.

"The court appointed the dates for the hearings in January," the lawyer said on Twitter.

Earlier the lawyers could not say whether the sentence will be given before the New Year or after it.

Savchenko is charged with complicity in the murder of two Russian journalists in east Ukraine last summer. She 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 Savchenko, the gunner of a Mi-24 helicopter, joined the Aidar militant battalion and in June of last year was conducting covert surveillance and direction of artillery bombarding targeting a checkpoint in the much-troubled Lugansk region. The settlement was full of civilians, including three Russian journalists.

As a result, two Russian journalists — Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin — from the All-Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (VGTRK) died in the shelling.

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