Lutsenko appeals to ECHR about absence of medical treatment in prison
The defense lawyers for Ukraine's former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko have filed a claim with the European Court of Human Rights about the absence of medical assistance to the ex-minister, who is serving his term in Mena penal colony in Chernihiv region.
According to the press service of the People's Self-Defense party, a complaint was filed on December 3.
"The wuick actions by the management of Mena penal colony and Chernihiv branch of the penitentiary service are connected with Lutsenko's recent statements about him being deliberate driven to disability as a result of the lack of medical care in prison, as well as an inspection visit of a group of people's deputies, the ombudsperson and the deputy regional prosecutor to the prison," the press service of People's Self-Defense reported.
The press service stressed that the report by the State Penitentiary Service that Lutsenko agreed to be hospitalized for further examination is evidence that refutes the prison service's reports about Lutsenko's satisfactory health condition.
The State Penitentiary Service reported that on December 3 Lutsenko was offered a full medical examination in hospital, and he agreed to it.
Kyiv's Pechersky District Court found Lutsenko guilty of a number of counts of abuse of office and sentenced him to four years in prison on February 27, 2012. Lutsenko was also charged with interfering in an investigative case concerning Valentyn Davydenko, the driver of former SBU First Deputy Chief Volodymyr Satsiuk, as part of an investigation into the poisoning of then presidential candidate Viktor Yuschenko on August 17, 2012 by Pechersky Court. The court sentenced Lutsenko to two years in prison.
On August 31, 2012, the ex-minister was transferred to the Mena Penal Colony in Chernihiv region.
The medical commission examined Lutsenko on November 8 and came to a conclusion that there was no reason for the ex-minister's hospitalization. Meanwhile, his wife and defender, Iryna Lutsenko, stated that during the examination the doctors discovered that the ex-minister has heart disease.
On November 15, Lutsenko refused from an examination with the help of medical equipment at Chernihiv Regional Clinical Hospital.
On November 29, Lutsenko complained that for 20 days he had not been undergoing any of the medical procedures prescribed by his medical commission. The press service of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine denied the information and on November 30 it was reported that Lutsenko agreed to undergo a repeat medical examination at a laboratory.