Former YUKOS Vice-President Aleksanian may be released on bail

The Moscow City Court has passed a ruling allowing incurably ill Vasily Aleksanian to be released on bail of 50 million roubles (near 2 million US dollars). Yelena Lvova, his lawyer says that his family will be trying to raise the money.

The court’s decision overturned the ruling of the lower level Simonovsky Court in Moscow which at the end of October extended the custody period until 22 January 2009.  The application to extend custody by three months was made by the investigators.

In February Vasily Aleksanian was finally transferred from a remand centre [SIZO] to a civilian hospital, though it was only in March that the chain confining him to his bed (cruelly redundant given his state of health) was removed.

As already reported, former YUKOS Vice-President Vasily Aleksanian has been remanded in custody in Russia for more than two and a half years without a conviction on financial charges similar to those against Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He is gravely ill with two potentially fatal medical conditions.

There had been repeated calls from human rights defenders in Russia, Ukraine, Poland and many other countries to stop torturing a dying man.  It was only after the European Court of Human Rights issued its third call to Russia to transfer Mr Aleksanian to a specialist hospital and provide the Court with details about the treatment he is receiving, that Mr Aleksanian was moved to a clinic.