YIZHACHENKO v. UKRAINE
Inadmissible
Angelika Nußberger;Erik Møse;Ganna Yudkivska;Mārtiņš Mits;Síofra O’Leary;Yonko Grozev
1. The applicant, Ms Viktoriya Pavlivna Yizhachenko, is a Ukrainian national who was born in 1968 and lives in Poltava. She was represented before the Court by Mr O.V. Levytskyy, a lawyer practising in Kyiv. 2. The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were represented, most recently, by their Agent, Mr I. Lishchyna. 3. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 4. On an unspecified date criminal proceedings were instituted against the applicant on several counts of fraud and incitement to bribery. The applicant remained at liberty, having paid a bail. 5. On 31 July 2012, during the trial, the Oktyabrskyy District Court of Poltava (“the District Court”) ordered that the applicant be placed in custody. 6. On 3 September 2012 the applicant was put on the list of wanted persons. 7. On 1 February 2013 she was arrested. 8. On 7 February 2013 she was placed in the Poltava Pre-Trial Detention Centre (“the SIZO”). On admission to the SIZO the applicant had a medical examination. 9. On 27 March 2013 she was admitted to a medical unit at the SIZO with a diagnosis of ischemic heart disease, stenocardia, atherosclerotic cardio sclerosis, impaired cardiac function and hypertensive disease. The applicant had an electrocardiogram and was provided with treatment. The next day she had a consultation with a cardiologist. 10. On 5 April 2013 the applicant was examined by a neuropathologist. 11. On 17 April 2013 the applicant had a stenocardia attack accompanied by a sharp drop in her arterial blood pressure. She was provided with urgent medical care by an ambulance team which had arrived at the request of the SIZO. The applicant was given further treatment in a city hospital. 12. On 8 May 2013 the applicant was taken to the gynaecological ward of a city hospital where she was treated for uterine fibroids and haemorrhagic syndrome. Further examinations showed that the applicant suffered from endometrial cancer (adenocarcinoma corporis uteri). On 10 May 2013 the applicant was returned to the SIZO and placed in the medical unit for further treatment and observation. 13. On 21 May 2013 the applicant was examined and prescribed further drug therapy. 14. On 6 June 2013 the applicant was examined by an oncologist who recommended she have surgery. She was registered with the Poltava regional oncologic clinic as a cancer patient with T1N0M0-stage cancer. 15. On 7 August 2013 the applicant wrote a statement refusing to consent to surgical treatment, chemotherapy or any other complex treatment until she had been seen by the oncology panel at the Kyiv oncologic centre. 16. In a letter of 10 August 2013, the governor of the SIZO and the head of the SIZO’s medical unit informed the applicant’s lawyer that the applicant had refused to have the necessary treatment because she wanted to be examined by doctors from the Kyiv oncology institution. 17. On 14 August 2013 the applicant had her lungs X-rayed. No tuberculosis was found. 18. On 12 September 2013 the applicant was diagnosed with cervical osteochondrosis and prescribed medical treatment and further observation. 19. On 8 October 2013 the applicant was taken by ambulance to the gynaecological ward of the city hospital because of a uterine haemorrhage. The doctor who treated her confirmed her diagnosis and the need for surgery. The applicant returned to the SIZO the next day. 20. On 16 October 2013 the applicant was examined by an oncologist from the Poltava regional oncologic clinic who also recommended surgery. 21. On 17 October 2013 the Court indicated to the Government under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court that they should secure immediately, by appropriate means, inpatient treatment for the applicant for her health condition. 22. On 21 October 2013 the applicant was admitted to the Poltava regional oncologic clinic for further examination and treatment. 23. On 1 November 2013 a panel of doctors at the clinic made a plan for the applicant to have surgery and scheduled it for 5 November 2013. The applicant refused to give her consent to the proposed treatment. 24. On 13 November 2013 the applicant again refused to consent to the medical intervention and treatment proposed by the doctors at the Poltava regional oncologic clinic. The refusal was witnessed by six witnesses, including the doctor in charge of her treatment. The applicant was returned to the SIZO’s medical unit for further supervision and non-surgical treatment, which included taking prescription pills. 25. On 25 November 2013 the applicant was taken to the Poltava regional psychiatric hospital for observation in connection with signs of a possible mental disorder. On 2 December 2013 she was returned to the SIZO after she was found to be of sound mind and that she had attempted to simulate a mental disorder. The applicant continued to accept the treatment provided to her in the SIZO. 26. On 14 March 2014 the District Court found the applicant guilty of financial frauds and of incitement to bribery. It sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment but released her from serving that sentence pending three year probation period. The District Court further changed the preventive measure against her from pre-trial detention to a written undertaking not to abscond. The applicant was released on the same day. 27. On 10 June 2014 the Government informed the Court of the applicant’s release, following which the Court lifted the interim measure.