Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in America, had his health checked by five US doctors. Earlier Russia’s Foreign Ministry “expressed indignation” with the lack of medical attention the pilot was receiving.
Yaroshenko was abducted by American special agents in Liberia
back in 2010 and forwarded to the US without notification to
either the Russian authorities or his family. In September 2011,
he was found guilty of conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the US
and sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
Moscow believes the pilot was unjustly imprisoned.
Last week Yaroshenko’s lawyer said that his client had grave
health problems and was being denied proper medical assistance at
his incarceration facility in Fort Dix, New Jersey.
On Tuesday, Yaroshenko finally had his health checked. His
lawyer, Aleksey Tarasov, believes the checkup his client
received, was all due to Russian diplomats’ interference.
“At 8 he was summoned for the electrocardiogram, then at 12
he was summoned once again to the medical unit, where he was
examined by five doctors, once again had his electrocardiogram
done, was X-rayed and then was allowed back into his cell,”
Tarasov said, as cited by Interfax.
The results of the checkup have not yet been made known.
Yaroshenko’s lawyer says his client signed a waiver allowing him
to make public his health examination details. Upon receiving the
letter with the waiver, the prison will be able to come up with a
report on Yaroshenko’s health.
The Tuesday checkup came following harsh criticism from Russia’s
Foreign Ministry, which staged a diplomatic démarche, describing
Yaroshenko’s Monday medical screening as “superficial.”
Russian Foreign Ministry human rights representative Konstantin
Dolgov expressed “indignation towards the American side”
concerning the examination, which turned out to be “just a
formality,” a ministry statement said.
Dolgov directed his criticism towards the adviser to the US
Embassy in Moscow.
“There’s an impression that the prison administration has
been deliberately ignoring all appeals from Yaroshenko, his
lawyer and Russian diplomats, thereby losing precious time and
putting at greater risk the life of a Russian citizen,” said
the statement.
The ministry was urging the US to adopt emergency measures and
“overcome the sabotage” of the Fort Dix prison by providing
previously requested qualified medical examination of Yaroshenko
with Russian doctors present to assign him the needed treatment.
“The health of the unjustly imprisoned Russian citizen
Konstantin Yaroshenko is still a cause for serious concern,”
Dolgov said on Monday.
The United States initially said Yaroshenko did not request
medical assistance from the prison administrators, and later said
it could not publicly comment on his health unless he signed a
privacy waiver. It also encouraged Russian representatives to
directly contact his low-security correctional facility.
On Monday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insisted that
Yaroshenko must be fully examined by medical professionals from a
Russian diplomatic facility.