Death of Dnipropetrovsk remand prisoner to be reinvestigated

The Prosecutor General’s Office has restarted a check of the actions of staff of SIZO [remand unit] No. 3.  It has ordered the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor to reinvestigate the death of a remand prisoner, 27-year-old Viktor Skvortsov who died on 27 January 2011 in the city tuberculosis unit.

The reinstatement of the investigation was announced at a press conference by Viktor Skvortsov’s brother, Artyom. He is adamant that in the 7 months that his brother spent in the SIZO, he could have become so gravely ill as to have died from natural causes.

Ludmilla Skvortsova, Viktor’s mother, has again accused the SIZO Administration of causing her son’s death. “I learned of his illness on 9 November when they couldn’t take him to the court because of his bad state. Then the judge changed the restraint measures and sent my son for three weeks to the tuberculosis clinic. His state of health improved slightly and he could walk with a stick. But then they sent him back to the SIZO where he was held under 26 January. On 27 January Viktor was again taken to hospital where he died, according to the official version, of tuberculosis”.

Ms Skvortsova believes that the SIZO Administration, and specifically the Chief Doctor, bear responsibility for her son’s death and that it was through their negligence that he was not given proper medical assistance. She says that having learned of her son’s condition, she made applications to the SIZO several times, but they were all ignored.

They also have grievances against the Judge of the Kirovsk District Court Oleh Khodasevych and have sent a complaint to the High Council of Justice. They accuse him of lack of objectivity in changing the charges from deliberate grave bodily injury to murder.