A 35-year old man from Yakutia in Russia’s Far East who was detained by police for allegedly growing cannabis plants at home has died after being beaten in custody and then refused medical assistance, Russian Telegram channel Ostorozhno Novosti reported on Saturday.
Vyacheslav Ts. Photo: Ostorozhno Novosti
According to his sister Inessa, the man, who has so far only been identified as Vyacheslav Ts., was detained by law enforcement officers in the regional capital Yakutsk on 10 October and taken to a police station, where he was severely beaten before being released the following day.
Four days later, Vyacheslav, who was a registered disabled person and who had lost parts of both his legs from diabetes, went to the emergency room, having experienced difficulty breathing and moving since his release from police custody.
At the hospital, Vyacheslav was diagnosed with a double fracture of the sternum, though no X-ray or ultrasound of his internal organs was performed and the staff refused to admit him due to their inability to perform surgery on his sternum, according to his sister.
On 16 October, the police again took Vyacheslav in for questioning, during which they demanded that he sign a document confirming that the injuries he had sustained while in police custody had been the result of a fall. Despite his poor physical state, they did not allow him to rest.
Two days later, Vyacheslav’s condition suddenly worsened, he lost consciousness, had difficulty breathing, and his blood sugar level rose sharply. He was eventually hospitalised, but died the following morning from sepsis, a broken sternum and “injuries caused by a blunt force trauma”.
Both Russia’s Interior Ministry and Yakutia’s Investigative Committee have said they are looking into the incident.
