PRISONER
FOR FAITH
DENIED NECESSARY MEDICINES IN KURSK SIZO. HIS CONDITION IS
CRITICAL
Jehovah's
Witnesses
in Russia, 2 January 2020
The
administration
and medics of the Kursk SIZO [pre-trial detention cell] are
refusing necessary
medication for Artem Bagratian, who was arrested for reading the
Bible, meeting
with fellow believers, and conversing with others about the
Bible. The
47-year-old Artem has diabetes and hypertension and his
condition has worsened
sharply.
Artem
was arrested
along with his wife, Alevtina, and other believers in Kursk on
16 October 2019
on a charge of extremism. Since then both spouses and their
friend Andrei
Andreev have been held in custody in SIZO No. 1 for Kursk
oblast.
"In the
SIZO,
Artem is not permitted to take the medicines that he took before
his arrest. In
the cell he is given similar ones that are less effective. He is
also not
provided a special diet," Bagratin's lawyer reported, adding
that there
exists a real threat to the life of his client.
The
lawyer visited
Bagratian on 26 December 2019. The next day, 27 December, a
hearing was held in
the Lenin district court on extending the measure of
restriction. During the
session Artem became ill and it was necessary to summon first
aid, since his
sugar level and blood pressure were sharply elevated.
"The
doctor did
not have medicine for blood pressure and therefore they rushed
to the pharmacy.
After this Artem became a bit better and the hearing continued,"
the
lawyer explained.
Despite
the
Bagratian's critical condition, Judge Tatiana Pozdniakova
extended his
detention until 11 March 2020.
The case
of the
Bagratian family is being conducted by M.N. Zaitsev, an
investigator of the
Russian U.F.S.B. for Kursk oblast.
After
the Bagratians
were arrested in October 2019, a series of raids took place in
Kursk. On 24 and
31 October, special forces conducted searches in a total of
seven homes of
believers. On 6 and 11 November, another three searches occured.
(tr. by PDS,
posted 2 January 2020)
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