Rostov prison doctors try to convince court of victims’ unreliability

Employees of the Rostov tuberculosis hospital of the Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN), who challenged the verdict in the case on torture of patients, called the testimonies of the victims unreliable, citing their illnesses, reports lawyer Rustam Khanmurzaev. The diagnoses of the victims do not provide grounds for cancelling the court’s decision, human rights defender Oleg Sokurenko points out.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in January, in Rostov-on-Don, a court sentenced Alexander Lyakh, the former deputy chief of the FSIN tuberculosis hospital, to seven years and six months of imprisonment, finding him guilty of organizing torture of patients. Daria Pozdnyakova, the chief of the hospital’s psychiatric department, was sentenced to six years, and psychiatrist Anastasia Potorochina – to five years of imprisonment. On March 20, the convicts requested the court to cancel the verdict, insisting that they were not guilty.

Rustam Khanmurzaev, a lawyer representing the victims’ interests, says the defendants’ defence refers to the fact that the victims suffer from various diseases and their testimonies should not be trusted.

The case of the prison hospital mentioned is not unique, believes Valentin Bogdan, the executive director of the “Defence of Prisoners’ Rights” Foundation*.

“In the case on torture at the tuberculosis hospital, we have real defendants and the sentence of imprisonment ... There are many cases of torture and complaints, but rare cases end in real punishment ... Many criminals evade responsibility,” Valentin Bogdan notes.

Oleg Sokurenko, the executive director of the “Centre for Legal Defence of Disabled People and Persons with Socially Significant Diseases” Foundation sees no reason to cancel the verdict. According to his report, the overwhelming majority of the victims testified against the defendants in the case on torture.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.