In the Tambov region, a court released an HIV-positive convict from a colony

The Morshansky District Court of the Tambov Region granted the petition of an HIV-positive convict and released him from the colony, Sergei Loktev, a lawyer for the human rights organization “Zona Prava,” who represents the interests of the convict, told Mediazona.

The diagnosis of a 37-year-old convict with viral hepatitis B and C, as well as HIV-positive status of the fourth stage and disability of the third group, is included in the List of diseases that interfere with serving a sentence. Since 2011, the convict, while in a Chuvash colony, has been taking antiretroviral drugs prescribed to him as part of the “Health” national project. Three years later he was transferred to Tambov colony No. 5, where he stopped receiving the necessary medications. His condition was critical, and the medical unit explained that “there was a temporary delay in the receipt of antiretroviral drugs.” Human rights activists helped the convict file a claim in court for compensation for moral damage in the amount of one million rubles for unprovided medications. As soon as the convict filed a claim, the necessary drugs were immediately found for him.