Russian authorities put the Ukrainian citizen in a single-celling jail after he demanded medical care

An illegally taken to Russia Ukrainian Valeriy Makarov was refused medical assistance in the penal colony №1 in the Republic of Adygea. 

The human rights defender Serhiy Mokrenyuk informed the Human Rights Information Center. 

According to him, the so-called “Armyansky Town Court of the Republic of Crimea” condemned Makarov for a crime in 2015. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Subsequently, Valery Makarov was sent to serve his sentence in Russia. 

“His health is impaired. He has a head injury, received in 2009, and he also damaged three vertebrae. He is getting worse and worse,” Mokrenyuk explained. 

“In this colony, there are no medical examinations, the colony refuses to provide medical help and also prohibits prisoners to have medical documents together with them,” – he added. 

Due to the lack of medical care, a man initiated a hunger strike. 

“Instead of providing him with a medical help, he was punished by incarcerating him in a single jail for false reasons,” – the human rights activist said. He noted that he does not know the official wording of the reason. 

According to him, in June 2016 Valery Makarov appealed to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. He informed Ukrainian authorities that he wishes to return to mainland Ukraine. Nevertheless, the issue remains unresolved. Mokrenyuk blames Ukrainian authorities for the standstill. 

On September 8, 2016, Ukrainian citizen from Kherson oblast Valeriy Kerimov died in this prison. He was refused medical care too.  

According to human rights activist Roman Martynovskiy, Kerimov was convicted by the Sevastopol court in December 2014 for 6 years. Then, he was taken to Russia to serve his sentence. At the time of arrest, he suffered from hepatitis B, C, and tuberculosis.