18/02/2008 - Continuous video surveillance, handcuffed to a bed 24 hours a day: the new treatment regime for Vasily Aleksanyan
After 683 days in pre-trial detention and 9 days without access to his lawyers following his transfer to a medical facility in Moscow, Vasily Aleksanyan tells of his new plight.Vasily Aleksanyan, who has suffered 683 days in pre-trial detention in a prison in Russia without treatment for AIDS, was moved to a hospital eleven days ago where he confirms that he is receiving some medical treatment, but in facilities that are degrading, un-sanitary and in breach of international standards of in-patient care.
Following nine days without access to his legal team or his family, despite his on-going requests, on Saturday he was granted a brief meeting with a lawyer at his hospital bed. The lawyer confirmed that Mr Aleksanyan is handcuffed to his bed and can only lie down, sit up or stand by his bed. The 24 hour manacle is hardly ever removed and Mr Aleksanyan, who can walk, is forced to undertake all personal hygiene in bed. Despite agreement amongst his doctors that he must be bathed daily, he has only had access to shower facilities twice.
His movements, limited as they are, are watched by a 24 hour surveillance camera and he has a guard in his room day and night.
Speaking of the situation his client now faces, Drew Holiner, Vasily Aleksanyan's legal counsel for the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said: "We are absolutely horrified that he is permanently attached to his bed in such unhygienic surroundings. His conditions are now even worse than when he was in the prison. He is not in a dedicated hospital for AIDS as requested by the Court, nor do we know that his treatment is satisfactory in a facility more used to dealing with pensioners than life threatening illnesses".
"He told us he had been desperately trying to contact us but was refused access to a phone or a means to get a message to us. He is very, very isolated. We have no idea when we can next meet with him and he has no idea when he will next be able to see us. This is very troubling as we know that he has been under pressure in the past to give false testimony against former colleagues in return for some form of deal. His isolation and his present circumstances are making him very vulnerable to such demands. He is a sick and brave man, but I do not know how much of this he can take".
