In Moscow, the detainees practically ceased to be released due to illness: the death rate is growing

Shocking data were given at the trial of the former head physician of Matrosskaya Tishina

More than three times (from 40 to 13) in Moscow has decreased over the past five years the number of medical examinations of prisoners for the presence of diseases that prevent the serving of sentences. Perhaps this is also why the death rate behind bars has risen sharply.

Curious figures were voiced the other day at the trial in the case of Vladimir Kravchenko, ex-chief physician of the Matrosskaya Tishina hospital. Recall that the investigation blamed the prison doctor for allegedly trying to “unload” the capital’s pre-trial detention centers for convicts (and thereby curry favor with the authorities) by releasing the patients.

Today, the overlimit in Moscow detention centers averages 18% (in some pre-trial detention centers it reaches 30-40%). When Kravchenko was “the chief prison doctor in Moscow,” overcrowding was about the same. This means that approximately 2-3 thousand prisoners were “superfluous” (did not have a bed, etc.). Moreover, a considerable part of them are seriously ill people and have already received a court verdict. By law, such people have the right to be exempted from punishment due to illness (the list of ailments is prescribed in Government Decree No. 54). So, Kravchenko allegedly too often sent people for examination for the presence of such a disease in order to “unload” the pre-trial detention center. The defense at the trial asked the Federal Penitentiary Service for figures, and this is what it turned out.

In 2018, there were 40 such commissions, in 2019 – already 27, in 2020 – 12, in 2021 – 18, in 2022 – 13. At the same time, in the end, in 2021 (it was during this period, more precisely the first half of the year, Kravchenko, according to investigators, committed malfeasance) only 4 convicts were released due to illness. In general, the number of prisoners who were released due to illness has decreased quite significantly over five years – from 12 in 2018 to 5 in 2022. After Kravchenko’s arrest, prison doctors became afraid to conduct such commissions, which is why the death rate behind bars increased.