Moscow Court Extends Detention Of Gravely Ill Businesswoman

MOSCOW — A Moscow court has prolonged for a further six months the detention of ailing businesswoman Natalya Gulevich, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reports.

Gulevich’s lawyer, Andrei Shtanko, told RFE/RL that the Taganka district court’s decision is tantamount to a death sentence for his client.

Gulevich, who has been charged with financial fraud, was hospitalized one week ago with kidney failure.

Shtanko said Gulevich is scheduled to be transferred from a Moscow health clinic to a pretrial detention center on December 1.

Gulevich was arrested 10 months ago. The reports that her health was deteriorating sparked concern among human rights activists in light of the death of a teacher in a Moscow detention center last month.

Andrei Kudoyarov, 48, a secondary-school teacher, died of an apparent heart attack while in custody on October 8. He had been charged with extortion.

Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told journalists on October 11 that an investigation was launched on the assumption that Kudoyarov’s death was the consequence of a failure to provide proper medical care.

Vladimir Zherebenkov was the lawyer for businesswoman Vera Trifonova, who died in a pretrial detention center in Moscow in April 2010. He told RFE/RL in October that both Trifonova and Kudoyarov died as a result of the very low professional level of medical personnel in detention centers.

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