29/01/2008 - Vasiliy Aleksanyan Denies Receiving Treatment Necessary To Save His Life
Responding to reports in the Russian media, newswires and the BBC today, Drew Holiner advocate and representative of Vasiliy Aleksanyan at the European Court of Human Rights, issued a statement on behalf of Mr Aleksanyan.29 January 2008
Dear Sir,
Vasiliy Aleksanyan, the former vice-president of Yukos, currently being detained and awaiting trial by the Russian government, has been consistently denied access to the medical assistance necessary to save his life, despite four separate injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) requesting that 'The [Russian] Government have to secure immediately, by appropriate means, the in-patient treatment of the applicant in a hospital specialised in the treatment of AIDS and concomitant diseases' .
Vasiliy Aleksanyan totally denies the claim made yesterday by the deputy head of the medical directorate of the Federal Penal Service, Alla Kuznetsova, that he receives comprehensive medical help but refuses antiretroviral therapy. In fact, he has made repeated pleas to receive such treatment, including his written consent to receive HAART in July 2007; he has never been offered any treatment that he could refuse. The Russian Government has never submitted any evidence to substantiate the claim that he has refused treatment, despite repeated requests from the ECHR.
Vasiliy Aleksanyan reiterates that he has been subject to a purposeful denial of appropriate treatment to pressurise him into providing false testimony; as he said in his statement to the Supreme Court in Russia on 22nd January 'no one intended to give me medical treatment. I never refused treatment, I don't want to commit suicide. I ask that you forget once and for all about this insinuation and never use it again. How many times I've tried to get medical treatment'.
The irresponsibility and inadequacy of the prison service's medical response is further demonstrated by the fact that Vasiliy Aleksanyan was transferred to the infectious diseases section of his current
remand prison, despite being diagnosed with acute immune deficiency. As a consequence of this transfer his treating doctors now suspect he has contracted TB.
In addition, any treatment received within the remand prison is still in breach of the ECHR injunctions that specifically requested he be moved to a hospital that is specialised in the treatment of AIDS and concomitant diseases.
Vasily Aleksanyan continued, 'I am publicly asking the Russian government to transfer me to the Moscow AIDS Centre urgently so that I can receive the HAART treatment that I need to save my life in safe conditions. I want to put an end to insinuations that I have refused to accept treatment… I have never refused treatment, I am not suicidal. [L]et anyone who makes such claims try to experience even a part of the torment that I have been experiencing. I have a small [five year old] child to care for. And they say I don't want treatment? That I want to die? That is a lie.'
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