Yury Lutsenko in need of proper medical care

The family and lawyers of former Minister of Internal Affairs Yury Lutsenko, who has been held in detention since December 2010, are demanding that his constitutional right to medical treatment be ensured by hospitalizing him in a specialized clinic and providing the necessary treatment.

At a press conference on Thursday Iryna Lutsenko stated that the doctors who examined her husband on 30 August had found that his state of health had deteriorated.  The doctors were those provided by the Ministry of Health. They diagnosed cirrhosis of the liver together with hypertension and digestive tract varicose veins.  Due to the progressing nature of the condition, they recommended that Lutsenko be treated and receive further examination at a special gastroenterological clinic.

Iryna Lutsenko said that she had only received the preliminary assessment of the doctors from 28 May the day before. That report had recommended that her husband be hospitalized.

She believes that the SIZO [detention unit] Administration concerned this official information regarding the former Minister of Internal Affairs’ state of health for three months.

She read out a medical conclusion which stated that if  Yury Lutsenko did not as a matter of urgency receive the proper medical treatment, there could be irreversible adverse development of the illness of the intestinal – stomach tract, further progressing of the cirrhosis of the liver with its consequences.

Ms Lutsenko accuses the authorities of deliberately trying to physically destroy her husband.

As reported, the trial of Yury Lutsenko has been adjourned until 19 September apparently to allow the judges to have their holidays.

Yury Lutsenko’s prosecution and remand in custody have aroused concern both within Ukraine and from the international community. The grounds for his detention were clearly spurious and yet he has now been in custody for more than 8 months.