German doctors confirm that Savchenko is fine – Russian Federal Penitentiary Service
(Interfax – February 16, 2015)
The Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) has assisted German doctors with an objective medical evaluation of Ukrainian servicewoman Nadezhda Savchenko, which has confirmed that her health condition is fine.
“Assistance was provided yesterday with an approved medical evaluation of accused Nadezhda Savchenko by doctors from Germany,” the FSIN press service said in a report obtained by Interfax on Monday.
The report states that the evaluation was followed by a meeting of the board of doctors, “where the foreign specialists evaluated her health state as fine and pointed out the professional approach and of the treatment and diagnostic measures taken in the hospital of the medical and sanitary unit of the FSIN, which Nadezhda Savchenko fulfilled in full.”
According to the press service, no medical indications for an additional health evaluation of the accused and her treatment have been determined.
“After the foreign doctors received Nadezhda Savchenko’s written consent to become familiar with the medical documentation and medical evaluation, they were provided with the results of the tests performed on the accused and the dynamics of her health in the entire period she has been kept in custody,” the report says.
The agency says that both sides later “exchanged opinions on the further tactics of the patient’s follow-up, pointing out the priority of psychological work with the accused aimed at stopping her hunger strike and further cooperation between Russian and German doctors.”
It was reported earlier with reference to Russian law enforcement agencies that Savchenko, a 33-year-old pilot, was fighting with the Aidar volunteer battalion in eastern Ukraine. It was reported on July 8, 2014 that she was being held at the Voronezh pre-trial detention facility in Russia.
Savchenko was brought to Moscow on September 24, 2014. The Russian Investigative Committee has indicted her for complicity in the killing of Russian journalists in the Luhansk region in June 2014. Savchenko refused to plead guilty.
Moscow’s Basmanny Court ruled on October 27, 2014 to extend Savchenko’s pretrial detention until February 13, 2015. The pilot has maintained a hunger strike since mid-December to protest the ruling. The same court ruled on February 10 to extend her detention until May 13, 2015.