March 18,
2016 U.S. Senator
John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, delivered
the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding Nadiya Savchenko, the
Ukrainian pilot who was smuggled across the border to Russia where she faces
false charges and illegal imprisonment:
“Mr. President: It has been nearly
two years since Nadiya Savchenko, the first female military pilot in
post-Soviet Ukraine and an Iraq War veteran, was abducted from Ukrainian
territory by pro-Russian separatists and smuggled across the border to Russia
where she faces false charges and illegal imprisonment. She is accused by
Russia of having directed artillery fire that killed two Russian
state-television journalists in eastern Ukraine in June 2014, and then
illegally crossing into Russian territory without proper paperwork. This is
despite clear evidence provided by her lawyers that she was captured by
separatists before this incident occurred, and then hauled across the border in
handcuffs with a sack over her head. Following her capture, Nadiya has
reportedly endured interrogations, solitary confinement, and was subjected to a
psychiatric evaluation at the infamous Russian Serbsky Institute, where Soviet
authorities were once known to torture political dissidents. Further media
reports suggest that she is gravely ill and near death.
There are international laws that
govern the treatment of prisoners of war. But Russia continues to deny that it
is fighting a war in Ukraine, and is therefore treating Nadiya as a common
criminal. While there are also international laws that govern the treatment of
common criminals, Russia has shown as much regard for those laws as Ukraine’s
sovereignty or the rights of Russians like Boris Nemtsov. From her prison cell
in Russia, Nadiya said, ‘If I am found guilty, I will not appeal. I want the
entire democratic world to understand that Russia is a Third World country with
a totalitarian regime and a petty tyrant for a dictator and it spits on
international law and human rights.’
And in her last appearance in court,
Ms. Savchenko said, ‘The trial proves the guilt of Russian authorities; they
are to blame for seizing Ukrainian lands, capturing Crimea and starting a war
in the Donbas region. They are to blame for trying to establish – through their
foul undeclared wars all over the world – a totalitarian regime dominated by
Russia.’
She ended her court appearance by
saying, ‘Russia will return me to Ukraine yet. Whether I am dead or alive. It
will return me.’
The full video of U.S. Senator John McCain’s speech is available at:
0 comments:
Post a Comment