MOSCOW, December 17 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul) – Defense of Sergei Kuznetsov, 54, who has died in a Sverdlovsk Region prison after the court’s refusal to release him because of terminal illness, filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights, lawyer Sergei Petryakov told RAPSI on Thursday.

Lawyers insist that Kuznetsov’s right to life (Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights) was violated.

According to another Kuznetsov’s attorney, Alexei Bushmakov, the Russian authorities did not provide requisite medical assistance to Kuznetsov in prison and did not release him although he had the legal right to be released. “Sergei had several serious diseases, including oral cancer. The prison doctors defined his condition as serious and were expecting an adverse outcome. Furthermore, Kuznetsov’s diagnosis is on the list of diseases that has been approved by a government resolution and can be used to release a prisoner from his term,” Bushmakov said earlier.

A petition to release Kuznetsov was filed by the administration of Prison No. 2 where Kuznetsov served his sentence. The Verkh-Isetsky District Court of Yekaterinburg dismissed the motion in July.

In mid-August Kuznetsov died. In September, the Sverdlovsk Region Court has ruled against the lower court’s refusal to release the terminally ill prisoner and closed the case due to his death.