ST. PETERSBURG, March 29 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) - Two gravely ill women convicted of drug dealing have filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), attorney Sergei Petryakov told RAPSI on Tuesday.

The women at the age of 37 and 28 who are suffering from cancer, HIV and Hepatitis C asked the ECHR to compel Russian authorities to provide them with an emergent medical assistance in a specialized cancer center or to release them for treatment in a civil hospital.

The convicts have been put in a penitentiary clinic for St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region which cannot provide them with a necessary help, Petryakov said.

According to existing law, they have a right to release because of grave illness, the lawyer added.

In March, the Smolninsky District Court in St. Petersburg refused to release the women. The ruling has been already appealed but consideration of the complaint can take long, according to the attorney. Terms of their imprisonment have to expire in 2021 and 2022 but the convicts can't last till release, Petryakov said.