cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/44422872
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On Oct. 16, the Moscow City Court upheld a six-year prison sentence against 20-year-old Yevgenia Lomakova, who was previously convicted of attempting to distribute narcotics. Lomakova suffers from cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disease that affects the respiratory and endocrine systems and is included on the Russian government’s official list of illnesses that prohibit pretrial detention and imprisonment — making both the Oct. 16 ruling and her sentence, issued in June of this year, unlawful.
According to The Insider’s correspondent, who was present in the courtroom, the court left the original verdict unchanged and rejected the appeals from the defense. Lomakova’s lawyers now plan to challenge the ruling in a cassation court.
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Lomakova herself joined the hearing via video link from a pretrial detention center, where she has been held since she was sentenced in June. During the session, she delivered a final statement. It is available in full at the linked report.
I want to draw your attention to the fact that I have had a permanent disability since childhood. I don’t need to have it re-certified, because my disease is chronic and incurable. It can only be managed for a while, to slightly delay death. The end is always the same — a painful death. It happens like this: the lungs gradually stop functioning, and I start suffocating, choking on pus-filled mucus.
To delay that moment and live a bit longer, I take pills to support my liver and kidneys, because these organs suffer the most from the large number of medications I must take. I use a stationary inhaler at least three times a day, undergo intravenous therapy with antibiotics, mucolytics, and bronchodilators, and do breathing exercises to help the mucus clear at least a little …
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