Russian court decides to keep seriously ill journalist Amet Suleymanov in prison

As lawyer Lilya Gemedzhi of the Crimean Solidarity non-governmental organization told journalists, the Frunze District Court of the city of Vladimir (russia) refused to release Amet Suleymanov, a Crimean citizen from Bakhchysarai, despite the fact that he has two diseases that are included in russia’s list of diseases incompatible with the conditions of imprisonment.

“Our argument was also that the medical opinion, which was illegally made by the Federal Penitentiary Service after my client was transferred to Prison 2 in Vladimir, is contradictory. The data of the research part, the conclusions made by narrow specialists, for example, a cardiologist, contradict the general conclusions made by prison doctors from the Federal Penitentiary Service, who signed this examination,” said Lilya Gemedzhi.

She emphasized that the codes of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), which were written by highly specialized doctors, completely coincided with those diseases with which a prisoner cannot stay in prison.

“We drew the attention of the court to another medical report indicating Amet Suleymanov‘s diagnoses and tests, made by an independent expert organization, in which specialists confirmed the evidence of the defense that Suleymanov has diseases for which he is subject to release from prison. But the court ignored this document,” the lawyer said.

Lilya Gemedzhi also noted that the court denied the defense the questioning of the doctors who drew up the medical opinion at the stage of the trial in the first instance and the questioning of the forensic expert who performed the independent examination.

The defense plans to file an appeal against the decision of the Frunze Court and challenge the illegal medical opinion of the Federal Penitentiary Service in an administrative procedure.

According to the lawyer, Amet Suleymanov‘s condition has significantly worsened since he was taken into custody. In particular, he developed a new disease – retinal hypertensive angiopathy.

“This suggests that changes in the ability to see occur against the background of constant high pressure. He cannot read or write for a long time; his eyes are constantly watering. There have been more frequent cases when, after sleep, he discovers congealed blood in his nose and a pillow covered in blood. He is not allowed to undergo an adequate medical examination. He is not prescribed medical drugs, but only those that confuse the symptoms,” explains lawyer Lilya Gemedzhi.

As earlier reported, Amet Suleymanov was under house arrest for three years due to his health. The first court session found him not guilty and released him from custody. However, after some time, he was re-arrested. And this time, he was sentenced by a russian court to 12 years in prison in the falsified “case of Crimean Muslims.”

The journalist suffers from arterial and mitral heart failure. However, on April 6, 2023, Amet Suleymanov was taken into custody and taken to a detention center.

The Memorial Human Rights Center in russia recognized Amet Suleymanov as a political prisoner.

NUJU Information Service