As reported by our observer in Smolensk:

Today (July 7th), the day before a scheduled court hearing on Taisiya Osipova’s case, Taisiya was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation. This was done in accordance with Leninskiy district court’s June 16th ruling in the civil suit case against the jail administration.

The defendant’s attorney Svetlana Sidorkina was denied access to her client at the hospital, which makes it impossible for the defense to prepare for Taisiya’s testimony at the upcoming July 8th hearing. Because of this, Sidorkina intends to move to adjourn the hearing. Judge Dvoryanchikov has been notified and has expressed his consent.

For now, the hearing is scheduled for 2:30 PM, July 8th. As the defense makes the motion, the hearing will likely be adjourned to a later date.

(more photos from the courtroom)

Our correspondent reports from Smolensk:

On June 28th, Zadneprovskiy district court of Smolensk held another hearing of the case of Taisiya Osipova, an opposition activist and a political prisoner. Taisiya is facing bogus charges under article 30 part 3 and article 228 part 1 of the Criminal Code. The charges have been fabricated against her by Center E operatives because of the political activity of her husband, opposition activist Sergey Fomchenkov.

Prior to the hearing I received permission to photograph Taisiya in the courtroom from judge Dvoryanchikov.

During the hearing the judge announced the defense’s decision to bring a second attorney into the trial. The new attorney was Svetlana Sidorkina, member of the human rights association Agora. As the technicalities of introducing a new attorney into the process were being discussed, her last name was mispronounced on multiple occasions. The incorrect name nearly ended up in the court documents, which would have led to significant bureaucratic complications later on. I had to correct the judge out loud to prevent this from happening. Of course, I was reprimanded for ‘consistently disrespecting the court’.

The judge then posed the following questions before Taisiya:

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Eric Sottas, Director of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) in Geneva, has submitted an open letter to Russian president Dmitri Medvedev, demanding a prompt medical examination and treatment for Taisiya Osipova, as well as her release in the absence of valid legal charges.

OPEN LETTER TO MR. DMITRY ANATOLYEVICH MEDVEDEV
PRESIDENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Geneva, 21 June 2011

Re: Fear for the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Taisiya Osipova – Denial of adequate medical treatment

Your Excellency,

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the largest Network of NGOs fighting against torture, summary executions, enforced disappearances and all other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the world, is writing to you to express its concern about the serious health problems of Ms. Taisiya Osipova, 26 years old, who is currently detained in poor conditions in the pre-trial detention centre (SIZO) 1, in Smolensk, province of Smolensk. She has been denied adequate medical treatment since her arrest on 23 November 2010, although she is suffering from multiple chronic diseases.

OMCT has been informed by reliable sources that, on 23 November 2010, around 20 policemen and officers from the Department to Combat Extremism entered violently Ms. Taisiya Osipova’s house, in Smolensk. The officers reportedly went from one room to another turning everything upside down while forcing Ms. Taisia Osipova to stay with her daughter in one of the rooms. Ms. Taisiya Osipova was arrested and brought to the pre-trial detention centre (SIZO) 1, in Smolensk, after the officers allegedly found five packs of greyish substance among her daughter’s clothes and a marked 500-ruble note. Upon arrival at the detention centre, she was examined by a prison doctor only for bruises on her arms that she sustained during the arrest.

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On June, 16^th Leninskiy district Court of Smolensk have sustained the case of Taisiya Osipova against her detention facility administration. The court overruled the decision of acting governor of the detention facility, Ermoshko, to deny a medical examination. The court compelled the detention facility administration to ensure the medical examination about the diagnosis of diabetes. According to the court ruling, the administration must provide the escort to a defined medical institution, i.e. Smolensk Regional Hospital. It’s still possible, as we know from experience, that there will be pressure on the doctors assigned to do the expertise. However, up until now there was not even a minor failure in the machinery of state working against Taisia. All of her previous motions and complaints were denied by the court on farcical pretexts.

On June, 21^st the next hearing on Taisiya Osipova’s case will take place in the Zadneprovskiy district court of Smolensk. And the day before, on Monday June, 20^th from 17-00 to 19-00 there will be a picketing in support of Taisia in Moscow, near the monument of Griboedov (metro station “Tchistie prudi”)  

Taisiya Osipova’s husband Sergey Fomchenkov reports:

On May 23rd Leninskiy district court of Smolensk held another hearing on Taisiya Osipova’s civil lawsuit against prison administration. 

Taisiya is demanding a medical examination to confirm that she has serious medical conditions (type 1 diabetes and others). Such health conditions would constitute grounds for her release from pre-trial detention under the latest edition of article 110 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The lawsuit was initially filed as a reaction to a formal reply denying Taisia the medical examination, signed by deputy head of the prison A. I. Ermoshko.

At the very first hearing, the representative of the prison administration denied having any objections to having Taisiya examined. However, according to the defendant, the prison’s responsibility is limited to escorting the prisoner to and from the medical facility at which the examination is performed. The medical commission itself must be appointed by the Regional Health Department, which had failed to do so according to the defendant. Due to this, the court ruled to summon representatives of the Health Department and the Administration of Smolensk region.

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Opposition Leader’s Wife Fights Drug Dealing Charges

SMOLENSK — In 2003 teenager Taisiya Osipova became an overnight celebrity in her hometown of Smolensk when she smacked the governor with a bouquet of carnations to protest his policies.

Fast-forward to this year, and Osipova, now 25 and the mother of a 5-year-old daughter, is on trial on charges of drug dealing.

Investigators say Osipova was caught red-handed and may face up to 20 years in prison for selling heroin. But her supporters call the case a clumsy frame-up aimed at punishing her husband, an associate of outspoken Kremlin critic Eduard Limonov.

Osipova was detained last November after police declared they had found a stash of heroin during a search of her home. Investigators said they received a tip from one of her customers and bought 3,000 rubles ($100) worth of heroin from her with marked bills in a string operation.

But Osipova said the cash and the heroin were planted in her house to pressure her husband, Sergei Fomchenkov, a senior member of Limonov’s unregistered opposition Other Russia party.

Her belief appears bolstered by the fact that the officers from the police force’s anti-narcotics department who searched her house were accompanied by an officer from the force’s anti-extremism department, which monitors opposition groups.

Read the rest of the article

Today’s hearing is over. The next one will take place on June, 21st (the judge is going on vacation). Today the court reviewed motions of the defense. There was a lot of them, and nearly every single one was denied by judge Dvoryanchikov. Among other things, he ruled that the wiretaps of telephone conversations between Taisiya and her husband Sergey Fomchenkov could not be declassified. He also denied the motion to subpoena the head officer of Smolensk anti-extremism department, who had signed the order for the search in the house of Sergey’s parents.

Later, we’ll publish a detailed report on today’s hearing.

On Friday, April 29th the renowned Russian electroclash band Barto will be giving a concert in Smolensk in support of Taisiya Osipova. Taisiya is a political prisoner who is being held in a Smolensk jail on bogus drug charges despite suffering from serious medical conditions. The band’s leader Maria Lyubicheva has previously published a blog post calling for public attention to the case.

On Wednesday, April, 20th the second hearing on Taisiya Osipova’s civil suit against the administration of Smolensk Pre-Trial Detention Facility took place in Leninskiy District court of Smolensk. Deputy head of the facility, lt. col. Ermoshko, is acting as the defendant.

In February he signed a ruling that denied Taisiya Osipova a medical examination, which she had requested in order to confirm the diagnosis of a severe disease (type I diabetes).

On January 21st “Rossiyskaya gazeta” (the official state newspaper) published a government resolution that followed the recent amendments to article 110 of the Criminal Procedure Code. According to the amendments, people suffering from severe diseases should not be held in pre-trial detention.

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Free Voina continues to monitor the situation surrounding the trial of Taisiya Osipova, wife of Sergey Fomchenkov, one of the leaders of the opposition party Drugaya Rossia. Taisiya is facing 20 years in prison over bogus drug charges because of her husband’s political involvement. The following is Sergey Fomchenkov’s account of the two most recent court hearings.

On April 14th and 15th the trial of Taisiya Osipova, activist of Drugaya Rossia and a political prisoner, continued. The prosecution witnesses were questioned again. This time they were also shown video footage of the search.

I should mention that there is no objective proof of Taisiya’s guilt whatsoever. The whole case is based on written testimony of CCE (police Center for Combating Extremism, or Center E) agents, attesting witnesses who happen to be activists of pro-kremllin youth organisations Nashi and MGER, and a special classified witness under assumed name “Timchenkova”. The latter admitted in her testimony her acquaintance with the police officers. All the written testimonies look like carbon copies of the same text, down to every last comma.

According to the case file, there had been no video recording of the controlled buy. The “buyer”, Timchenkova, had not been supplied with video or audio recording facilities to tape her conversation with Taisiya during the alleged buy. Taisiya’s house had not been wiretapped. There had been no surveillance outside the house either. Not a single customer had been identified, let alone caught leaving Taisiya’s house with drugs. This is despite the fact that the Center E operatives claimed to have watched her for over a year while she was allegedly selling drugs out of her house.

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