MOSCOW, September 16 (RAPSI) – The Moscow City Court declined to hear a complaint brought by Ukrainian national Nadezhda Savchenko who claims to enjoy immunity against prosecution as a PACE delegate, RAPSI reported from the courtroom on Wednesday.

The court ruled in favor of Prosecutor Oleg Karasev, who said there were no grounds for considering the complaint because Savchenko’s trial had already begun.

Attorney Nikolai Polozov argues that the court violated Savchenko’s rights by postponing the hearing until September, although the complaint was filed in May. He said the court’s refusal to hear her complaint would deprive her of the right to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

Savchenko, who attended the court session by video conferencing from the Rostov Region, asked that the court consider her complaint.

According to the Investigative Committee, Savchenko doesn’t hold PACE immunity because she was elected as a delegated after being charged with a crime.

Savchenko was arrested in Russia last summer on charges of involvement in the murder of two Russian TV journalists during hostilities in Donbas and on illegally crossing the border into Russia.

TV correspondent Igor Kornelyuk and sound engineer Anton Voloshin were killed on June 17 in a mortar attack.

Savchenko, who denies all the charges, is facing 25 years in prison.

Her attorneys claim that Savchenko was framed and that there is no evidence of involvement in the journalists’ murder. They also claim she did not cross the border voluntarily but was kidnapped.