The ECHR awarded 20 thousand euros to the daughter of a cancer patient who died in a prison hospital in St. Petersburg

The European Court of Human Rights recovered 20 thousand euros from the Russian authorities in favor of the daughter of cancer patient Oksana Semenova, who died in the Haas prison hospital in St. Petersburg. The head of the human rights organization “Zone of Law” Sergei Petryakov told Mediazona about this.

The Strasbourg court drew attention to the late diagnosis of cancer and inadequate medical care. The decision noted that the Gaaz hospital does not have a medical license. According to the court, the Russian authorities violated Article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (inhuman and degrading treatment).

In July 2015, doctors at the Gaaz Federal Penitentiary Service Hospital in St. Petersburg discovered Semenova had cervical cancer. Within two months, the cancer became inoperable, and the prisoner was prescribed radiation therapy; she experienced unbearable pain, which could not be relieved by medications from the prison hospital.

The commission concluded that Semenova has the right to release due to a serious illness, but the court refused to grant the woman’s request. Then the doctor emphasized that the prison hospital did not have the drugs Semenova needed.

After an appeal from human rights activists, the ECHR demanded that the Russian authorities provide Semenova with the necessary medications and transfer her to a civilian clinic. The “Zone of Law” noted that the Federal Penitentiary Service has not taken any steps to fulfill these requirements.

Subsequently, Semenova died in the Gaaz hospital. Her daughter became an applicant in a complaint to the ECHR.