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US Minister-Counsellor Howard Solomon has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry to hear a protest over the situation concerning Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who has been sentenced to a long prison term in the United States.
The Foreign Ministry's commissioner for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, Konstantin Dolgov, who presented the protest, stressed that the conditions in the prison where the Russian pilot is held are of serious concern to Russia.
"We have received Yaroshenko's letter addressed to Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, which indicates that the Russian citizen is not getting proper medical care in connection with the serious ailments he has acquired as a result of torture during his arrest in Liberia and the treatment in American penitentiary institutions which does not correspond to international standards," the protest said.
According to Dolgov, the situation is made worse by psychological pressure, as well as foot-dragging by the prison administration and US Justice Department officials over providing Russia with the copies of documents on Yaroshenko's medical check-up. The US has, besides, denied Russian doctors access to the imprisoned pilot.
Konstantin Dolgov told the Interfax news agency that the prison doctor suggested that Yaroshenko should buy anaesthetics at the prison pharmacy booth for his own money. It follows from Yaroshekno's letter that he suffers from chest pain, his limbs grow numb, he's begun to shed teeth, and he also suffers from urology problems.
Dolgov said that Moscow continues demanding that Russian doctors together with diplomats be allowed to visit Konstantin Yaroshenko in prison for a proper medical examination. Then they could discuss the situation with US doctors so Yaroshenko could receive appropriate fully-fledged medical treatment at hospital, rather than in prison.
The Russian Foreign Ministry hopes that US Secretary of State John Kerry will honour his pledge he's given to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and will see to it that urgent measures are taken to remedy the situation concerning the provision of emergency medical care for the Russian national, pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko.
Lawyers of Russia's Yaroshenko serving in US prison to urge for case reconsideration
The lawyers of a Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, serving a 20 year term in the Fort Dix prison in the United States on charges of preparations for transporting a major consignment of drugs, will submit documents within one month in a bid to urge the court to reconsider his case due to some newly discovered evidence.
The Interfax news agency quotes one of Yaroshenko lawyers, Alexei Tarasov, as saying that the lawyers have just one month before April 28th to submit the documents to the New York Court, where the grand jury found Yaroshenko guilty on April 28th three years ago.
Tarasov explained that the accused can, under the US Criminal Code, submit, within three years, newly discovered evidence to intercede for reconsideration of the case.
Yaroshenko was arrested in Liberia on May 28th 2010 on charges of preparations for transporting a major consignment of cocaine, and subsequently flown to the United States. The US court sentenced him to 20 years behind bars on September 7th 2011. The Russian pilot’s health condition began to grow worse in early February this year. According to his relatives and lawyer, Yaroshenko has breathing problems and suffers from chest pains. The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed indignation in a statement over the fact that Yaroshenko medical checkup in prison was superficial, with neither the pilot, nor his lawyers, nor Russian diplomats briefed on the results afterwards. Later on, he underwent a second medical checkup, but the results were again kept a secret.
The Russian pilot’s lawyer said that he had received a letter from Fort Dix warden who wrote that Yaroshenko did have some chest problems but that those were in no way related to his heart condition. What the Russian suffered from was a bad chest infection that may have been prompted by bone and muscle tissue problems, the warden said in his letter.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the US has offered unacceptable conditions for Russian diplomats or doctors to visit Yaroshenko. Russian doctors, specifically, could be allowed to see the Russian pilot in jail if they had a medical practice licence of New Jersey, where Fort Dix is located.