Kabardino-Balkaria: doctor convicted to two conditional years for death of child

Today, the Chegem District Court of Kabardino-Balkaria has announced the verdict of guilty to Aryubat Gemueva, doctor-paediatrician of the local district hospital, accused of non-rendering held to Aslan Kugotov, 13, who subsequently died.

The doctor was sentenced to two years of conditional imprisonment with a two-year trial period. Also, the court has prohibited her to be engaged in any medical activity for two years, as reported by the inter-regional human rights association named "AGORA".

As reported by advocate Aslan Bazhev, who cooperates with human rights activists on this case, Aslan Kugotov felt bad on March, 3, 2008. His parents called to the first aid service, and feldsher Zaur Shogenov, who arrived in the ambulance, made an injection to the boy, but refused to take him to hospital, saying that at that time there were no doctors in the Chegem Hospital.

Nevertheless, Aslan's mother brought her son to the hospital, where doctor-paediatrician Aryubat Gemueva appointed out-patient treatment from allergy to the boy and sent them home.

After that, Aslan's condition continued to aggravate. According to his father, "in the morning on March 7, his body temperature dropped to 34.3 degrees, and his extremities began growing dumb." After that, Aslan was urgently hospitalized to the AIDS Prevention and Treatment Centre of Kabardino-Balkaria, where on the following day the teenager died from complications after his scarlet fever.

On the fact of the child's death a criminal case was initiated on the fact of non-rendering help and patient's death by inadvertency. The charge was presented to paediatrician Aryubat Gemueva.