YEREMENKO v. RUSSIA
Inadmissible
Alena Poláčková;Branko Lubarda;Dmitry Dedov;Georgios A. Serghides;Helena Jäderblom;Johannes Silvis;Luis López Guerra
1. The applicant, Mr Yuriy Leonidovich Yeremenko, is a Russian national who was born in 1963 and is currently serving a prison sentence in the Republic of Tatarstan. He was represented before the Court by Mr E. Markov, a lawyer practicing in Strasbourg. 2. The Russian Government were represented by Mr G. Matyushkin, Representative of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 3. On 10 June 2002 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of being the organiser of a criminal group which committed dozens of violent offences, including murders. 4. On 17 July 2006 the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan found that the applicant had been the organiser of an established criminal group, and had masterminded and participated in a number of aggravated murders, extortion and money laundering offences. The applicant was sentenced to life imprisonment. The judgment became final on 12 December 2007 when it was upheld on appeal by the Supreme Court of Russia. 5. In the years preceding his arrest the applicant suffered from a slowly progressing second-stage encephalopathy of mixed etiologies at the stage of decompensation, arterial hypertension, chronic hepatitis with hepatic impairment and cirrhosis, pancreatitis and focal duodenitis. In February 2001 he was certified for a period of one year as having a third-degree disability. 6. Upon admission to a temporary detention facility in June 2002 the applicant underwent a general medical check-up which included the measurement of his height and weight, recording of his blood pressure and body temperature, a chest X-ray examination, and tests for HIV and syphilis. A prison doctor noted the applicant’s assertion that he was suffering from hepatitis C and prescribed him hepatoprotectors to support the liver. 7. Several months later the applicant complained of pain in the right hypochondrium. The prison doctor diagnosed him with hepatic cirrhosis. Hepatoprotectors, antispasmodic medications, vitamins and dietary nutrition were prescribed and provided. 8. Over the following two years the applicant was transferred between various detention facilities and each time was subjected to a thorough medical examination. It appears from the submitted documents that he was continuously provided with a special dietary regime and hepatoprotectors. The medical records show that he was examined and treated by prison doctors for an acute respiratory disease at the beginning of 2003, for headaches at the beginning of 2004, and haemorrhoids later in 2004. 9. In the autumn of 2005 the applicant was seen by a neurologist from a prison hospital and an infectious diseases specialist from a civilian hospital. The neurologist concluded that the applicant had encephalopathy of mixed etiologies and vegetative-vascular dystonia as well as a neuropathy of the right medium nerve. Nootropic medication and vitamins were prescribed. The infectious diseases specialist confirmed the presence of hepatitis and recommended a combined treatment involving cholagogue drugs and injections with both antiviral and hepatoprotective action. 10. At the beginning of 2006 the applicant complained to the prison doctor of discomfort in the abdominal area. The doctor found no signs of acute hepatitis and prescribed three weeks of treatment with hepatoprotectors and a special diet. In 2007 the applicant underwent regular check-ups performed by an infectious diseases specialist from a civilian hospital. On the doctor’s recommendation he was given antiviral drugs and vitamins. In 2008 the applicant was given a course of nootropics for his brain vascular disorder. According to the medical records, the state of the applicant’s health did not deteriorate over those years. 11. In 2009 the applicant was successfully treated for a cold, cystitis, orchitis and a perineum boil. 12. The authorities continued treating the applicant for hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver. They also addressed his neurological problems and secondary medical conditions, such as seasonal colds. The applicant underwent a thorough medical examination performed by a medical panel comprising a number of specialists. In the report of 8 July 2010 the doctors concluded that the applicant was suffering from chronic hepatitis at a latent stage, first-stage cirrhosis of the liver and a second-stage encephalopathy of mixed etiologies. They also concluded that these primary chronic ailments had not progressed during the period of the applicant’s detention. In late 2010 the applicant was diagnosed with developed chronic prostatitis and acute cystitis. The conditions were brought fully under control with a comprehensive drug regimen. 13. In 2011 the applicant underwent a number of medical tests and received treatment for hypertension, which seemed to have become a major health issue for him at the time. 14. On 10 February 2012 the applicant was seen by a surgeon in connection with haemorrhoidal bleeding. A drug regimen was prescribed, but it did not bring the expected results. Two weeks later the doctor recommended inpatient treatment. 15. The applicant was admitted to the surgical department of the Regional Hospital in Solikamsk. After a number of tests, including a sigmoidoscopy, the doctors established that the applicant had chronic internal haemorrhoids of the first stage. No surgery was required. 16. On 30 August 2012 he underwent a medical examination by a panel of doctors with a view to establishing whether he should apply for renewed certification as a disabled person. The commission gave a negative answer as his condition did not involve any functional pathology of his organs and his vital activity was not restricted. 17. On 3 September 2012 the applicant was discharged from hospital. 18. In 2013 most of the applicant’s medical complaints concerned hypertension which, according to medical reports, had progressed to the second stage. His blood pressure was regularly monitored and he was given hypotensive drugs. The authorities also performed several tests, including an electrocardiogram examination in October 2013. That examination revealed a left bundle branch block. According to his medical records, the applicant continued to receive treatment for his heart, brain and liver conditions. 19. The applicant neither made any complaint about nor provided any description of the treatment received in the period after 2013. 20. The relevant provisions of the domestic and international law on general health care of detainees are set out in the judgment of Vasyukov v. Russia (no. 2974/05, §§ 36-50, 5 April 2011).