Russian Ministry of Justice receives preliminary inquiry on prisoner exchange from Ukraine
The Russian Ministry of Justice has received the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice’s query on the provision of documents necessary for considering the transfer of Nadiya Savchenko to Ukraine, in order to continue serving her sentence there. The press service of the Russian Ministry reported this on April 20 in response to inquiries from Russian information agencies.
The report stated that the court will consider the transfer of the Ukrainian, who was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment in Russia for the murder of All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company journalists, to her homeland. It was noted that the European Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (1983), on the basis of the provisions of which the transfer is possible, doesn’t regulate the terms of consideration of queries.
The Ministry of Justice also stated that the transfer of the convicted is possible if certain conditions are met, including: the prisoner’s consent, entry of the sentence into effect and recognition of the sentence of the Russian court by the competent authority of a foreign state. On April 19, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko stated that the algorithm of Savchenko’s release was agreed during a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin.