MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, serving a prison term in a US jail has serious health problems but is denied medical assistance, his wife Viktoria told TASS on Wednesday.
"His condition remains poor. He is denied medical treatment in jail. Problems with health are many," she said, adding that there was no immediate threat to his life at the moment.
"Last year he suffered a heart attack. The situation looks stable for now. No relapses so far, but nobody knows what may happen tomorrow," the pilot’s wife said.
Konstantin Yaroshenko’s mother, Lyubov, says her son’s health is ruined and he is being physically destroyed.
"He has lost almost all teeth. That’s an effect of torture he was subjected to in Liberia. The condition of his health is the worst trouble," she said.
The pilots’ relatives hope for his early release.
"Certainly, we do hope for some sensible decision by the US, for a humane solution. Konstantin is not guilty. They seized the wrong guy," Lyubov Yaroshenko said.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s commissioner for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, Konstantin Dolgov, said Konstantin Yaroshenko had great problems with his health.
The Russian pilot was detained by the Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in Liberia on June 2, 2010. He was charged with conspiracy for airlifting a batch of cocaine to Latin America, part of which was addressed to the United States.
US investigators claimed that Yaroshenko had been involved in transporting cocaine to South America, Africa and Europe mostly from Liberia and Venezuela.