Ludmila Telen, Izbrannoe (www.izbrannoe.ru), 21.02.2008

Nikolai Svanidze, a member of the Public Chamber, was one of those who visited Aleksanyan in hospital today. Here he is interviewed by Ludmila Telen.

Which other members of the Public Chamber went with you to city hospital No. 60?

The lawyer Genry Reznik, but we also asked Vladimir Lukin, the ombudsman for human rights, to join us.

Did they allow you to speak to Aleksanyan?

Yes, we talked for more than an hour.

The law-enforcement agencies still insist on their right to chain Vasily Aleksanyan to his bed. Are they doing so now?

Not now.

When did “now” happen?

On Monday. Before that he was constantly chained to his bed. Day and night. He was only unchained when his lawyers came to visit.

What’s his mood?

Aleksanyan has no complaints about the doctors. In his view, they are doing all they can for him.

And the conditions?

He does have some objections. He has a two-bed room to himself, with a refrigerator and a toilet. In itself that’s not bad. The shower is in the corridor, however, and he can only go there after getting special permission. During the two weeks Aleksanyan has been at the hospital he has only been taken for a shower three times. There are bars on the windows, which would be acceptable if they did not make it difficult to open the ventilation pane. As a result the room gets stuffy. A guard sits next to Aleksanyan 24 hours a day; they change every two hours. It’s quite a noisy procedure – you may imagine how strapping healthy lads move around, when they’re not used to being with sick people.

How is his morale?

He displays great dignity. Of course, he doesn’t feel well but he tries not to let that show. He even tried to get up when one of us stood. And, incidentally, he was insistent that he has never refused treatment.

What are your next moves?

We still have to find out what happened with the decisions issued by the European Court of Human Rights, why they were not implemented and, indeed, have still not been fully implemented today. Vasily Aleksanyan has been transferred to a hospital but the measure of restraint has not been altered. With such a loss in vision as he currently suffers, not to speak of the other diagnoses, he should be released. Yet they are not releasing him because the law obliges them only to release those already convicted – and Aleksanyan has not come to trial yet!