06/02/2008 - Russian Court once again refuses Aleksanyan treatment as decided by European Court of Human Rights
Moscow: 6 February 2008: A Moscow Simonovsky District Court Judge today ruled that Vasily Aleksanyan, on remand in a Moscow Prison, will be confined to his prison in defiance of four explicit orders from the European Court of Human Rights which decided that he should receive immediate treatment for AIDs and related diseases at the dedicated AIDS Centre in Russia.This ruling is despite the recommendations of a commission of three haematologists and top officials from the Moscow AIDS Centre and an AIDS & Tuberculosis Treatment Centre during an assessment in the prison’s medical facility on the afternoon of 4 February 2008 and a statement issued to the court yesterday by the head of the remand prison requesting his immediate transferral to a non-penal hospital facility.
Commenting on the judgement Mr Aleksanyan’s lawyer, Drew Holiner said: “Today’s judgement is outrageous and incomprehensible. The European Court's decision is binding on Russia as a matter of both international law and Russian domestic law. When Russia ratified the European Convention in 1998, it unconditionally recognized the jurisdiction of the European Court.
“Vasily has not been given the treatment he needs and doctors have recommended for over 14 months in prison. He needs a comprehensive and very complex set of treatments including anti-retroviral therapy, medication for TB and a very robust programme of chemotherapy for his cancer on an in patient basis in a specialist AIDs centre”.
In desperation, Vasily Aleksanyan is reported to have stated to media from his cell in the court: "They are not giving me any treatment in there [jail]. There is no guarantee they will give me access to a specialist clinic. All they are doing is adjourning the trial. That is all. Nothing else."
The detention of Mr. Aleksanyan in remand prison is a violation of Russian penal law which clearly states 'inpatient treatment of HIV/AIDs patients shall be carried out in a specialized clinic’. On 21 December 2007 the European Court stated that if Mr. Aleksanyan dies or his health continues to deteriorate in detention due to the Russian government's failure to implement the court's binding decision, it may find a breach of his right to life and to not be subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment.
Mr. Aleksanyan is suffering from AIDS and is not receiving treatment urgently needed to save his life. Even worse, he is currently detained in the infectious diseases section of the prison hospital, a situation quite incomprehensible given the fact he has been diagnosed with acute immune deficiency and is likely to have contracted his TB from one of the dozens of inmates there suffering from this acutely infectious disease.
