Worldwide campaign to free Nadiya Savchenko: why it matters
Brave Ukrainian pilot, MP Nadiya Savchenko, was kidnapped in Ukraine, illegally transported to Russia and unjustly imprisoned there. She has been on a hunger strike since Dec. 13, 2014, protesting her unlawful imprisonment by Russian authorities, based on bogus charges. Putin’s lawless regime refused to release Nadiya (in spite of her international diplomatic immunity), as well as numerous other Ukrainian POW’s languishing in Russian prisons. Savchenko is imprisoned in the same jail where Sergei Magnitsky was brutally murdered.
Nadiya’s big heart and unbreakable spirit has made her a symbol of Ukraine’s strength and independence. Even as her life hangs in the balance, this fearless young woman is determined to continue her hunger strike – until her release, or until her death. “A person who was born free and not a slave in captivity cannot live in prison, especially if he or she is innocent,” Savchenko wrote in a Jan. 12 open letter. “I have given my word: ‘Until the day I return to Ukraine, or until the last day of my life in Russia!’ and I will not back down.” In a video of her interrogation, Nadiya said that she does not expect to return home alive, but is not afraid. She said that her strength comes from her faith in God, as well as the energy of every person who thinks of her at least once a day.
