ROSTOV-ON-DON, June 11. /TASS/. The defense of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who is currently imprisoned in the US’s FCI Danbury, plans to join the class-action lawsuit against the FCI administration in a bid to ensure the pilot’s release, Yaroshenko’s lawyer Alexey Tarasov told TASS Thursday.
"We hope that, after we obtain the materials about Yaroshenko’s health, the full set, we will be able to make a strong argument to include Konstantin to the list of vulnerable Danbury prisoners who must be released by order of the federal judge," the lawyer said.
According to Tarasov, the correctional institution currently prepares the set of documents on Yaroshenko’s health which would make it possible to join the lawsuit, filed to the Federal Connecticut Court by a number of US human rights organizations against the Danbury warden.
The lawyer explained that the judge, who reviewed the lawsuit, was not satisfied with the superficial analysis the prison conducted regarding prisoners with health conditions.
"If a patient’s medical history included certain codes, which corresponded to health conditions, then that prisoner was included into a list of prisoners with ailments, incompatible with the coronavirus. However, these codes that are in the prison database, are very far from the real medical conditions of the inmates," Tarasov said.
According to the lawyer, it has become known that the prison administration could have destroyed a part of the inmates’ medical documents.
"Yesterday, a motion was filed to rule the prison’s medical aid inadequate, and this happened because the prison destroyed the data regarding who and when sought medical assistance," the lawyer said.
In a bid to receive medical aid, the inmated filed special forms every time. During the review of the class-action lawsuit, it was revealed that the prison administration destroyed these forms after seven days.
The Yaroshenko case
In 2011, Yarkoshenko was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He denies his guilt entirely and considers his arrest a provocation, and his case - a fabrication. He was expatriated to the US from Liberia, where he was arrested on May 28, 2010. Agents of the US Drug Enforcement Agency operating undercover ostensibly obtained evidence Yaroshenko had criminal intent to transport a large batch of cocaine.
On June 4, Russian Embassy to the US once again called on Washington to freed Russian nationals in US prisons over the coronavirus infection threat. According to Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov, people with serious conditions, who are especially susceptible to the coronavirus infection, cause the highest concerns. Among that are Konstantin Yaroshenko, Viktor Bout, Roman Seleznyov, Bogdana Osipova and Oleg Nikitin.