The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the Russian authorities against a decision for the non-extradition of a Russian woman suffering from Myasthenia gravis to her country.
According to the Supreme Court ruling issued on Tuesday, the Russian authorities had requested the woman’s extradition for her to be tried for offences, filing a request through the Limassol district court. After a hearing the district court rejected the request.
The court said the defendant, diagnosed with myasthenia gravis by a medical council in Cyprus, pointed out the problems of overcrowding in Russian detention facilities. Reassurances by Russia were not enough to shake off the risk of her being treated in violation of Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights (ECPHR) in the event of her extradition and subsequent detention, the court said.
Article 3 stipulates, among other things, that states cannot deport or extradite individuals who might be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the recipient state.
Myasthenia gravis is a chronic, incurable disease that requires continuous medication and medical monitoring, the court said, adding that the defendant presents at times some symptoms which are corrected by increasing the medication she receives. “Such patients may experience myasthenic seizures that endanger their lives if they are not provided with emergency medical care.” Deterioration of symptoms can occur over hours or days, it said.
The court said funding for medicines in Russian detention centres until 2013 was satisfied by 32.8 per cent and by 10.4 per cent in medical equipment but since then no data has been issued.
“Furthermore, an obstacle in her extradition was the medical problem she is facing, which, according to the Russian legal framework, is a reason for her non-detention,” court said.
In this regard, it was pointed out by the woman’s lawyer that the defendant’s health problem had not been brought before the Russian courts, which decided to detain her after her extradition.
Accepting the defendant’s position, the Limassol district court ruled the request of the applicant country could not be granted.
The court also said there was no reaction from the Russian authorities after they were given the woman’s testimony about her health condition, especially in relation to her detention, “given the indisputable evidence that this would be contrary to Russian law […] according to which the detention of persons with myasthenia gravis is not allowed.
“Nor did they react to the testimony of the defendant, which was accepted by the court, in relation to the detention centres for women in Moscow, that at least until 2016, there was a problem of overpopulation […] and for each detainee there is a space of 2.3 to 2.6 square metres, while at the same time there is a problem as regards the medical care of detainees,” it said.
It added that the assurances of the Russian authorities regarding the observance of the provisions of article 3 of the ECPHR, were given before the defendant was examined by the medical council in December 2018 and were general and vague.
They did not answer the key questions raised by the district court as regards the ban on her detention as per the law of the Russian Federation, nor did they provide specific information on the place and circumstances of a possible detention, it added.
The Supreme Court said “no reason has been shown to justify our intervention to overturn the first instance decision.”
