Ukrainian parliament allows arrest of lawmaker Savchenko over coup plot charges

KIEV, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian parliament on Thursday deprived lawmaker Nadiya Savchenko of her legal immunity and allowed her arrest over charges of plotting a coup, the parliament press service said.

The motion was adopted at the request of Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, said a parliament statement.

Earlier in the day, Lutsenko asked lawmakers to give their consent to a criminal prosecution of Savchenko.

While speaking in the parliament, Lutsenko said the pre-trial investigation found that Savchenko together with her supporters have "planned a large-scale terrorist attack" in central Kiev aimed at a "forcible overthrow of the constitutional system and the seizure of state power in Ukraine."

Savchenko has denied the charges, saying the accusations against her were fabricated.

Savchenko, also a military pilot, has formerly participated in the conflict in eastern Ukraine along with government forces.

She spent almost two years in prison in Russia after a court there found her guilty of complicity in killing two Russian journalists in 2014 during the conflict.

The pilot has denied her role in the murder and said she had been kidnapped in Ukraine and then handed over to Russian authorities.

Savchenko was elected as a member of the Ukrainian parliament while serving her jail term in Russia.

She returned to Ukraine in May 2016 after Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned her. Enditem