A resident of Lugansk, Anastasia Kovalenko, who was sentenced to 5 years in prison on political charges for allegedly preparing a terrorist attack in the center of Kiev, will be released under the “Savchenko law” and as a result of a plea deal, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
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About it says the court ruling dated July 11, published in the Unified Register court decisions on July 26.
Lawyer Kovelenko filed a petition with the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv, in which she indicated that the convict served in the Kiev (Lukyanovsky) pre-trial detention center for 2 years, 6 months and 1 day, which is converted to 5 years and 2 days. “Thus, on the day of filing the application, in the opinion of the applicant, the convicted person had already actually served her sentence and should be immediately released,” the court decision says.
The court agreed with the lawyer’s arguments, recalculated the prisoner’s term and decided to immediately release Kovalenko from custody.
The law, which abolished the possibility of recalculating prison terms, came into force on June 21.
Let us remind you that Anastasia Kovalenko was accused of allegedly arriving in Kyiv on December 17, 2014 with a bag of explosives. On the same day, she allegedly left explosives near the House of Trade Unions on Independence Square. However, the number of people in this place turned out to be small, so she allegedly took the bag to the square next to the Franko Theater, where the SBU detained her.
On June 1, 2017, Kovalenko entered into a plea agreement with the Prosecutor General’s Office and the next day was found guilty under articles “Terrorist attack” and “Illegal handling of ammunition”, she was sentenced to five years in prison without confiscation of property.