Press Release, 5.11.2024

Photo: Sergei Komandirov / Photo from social media

The Smolensk branch of Yabloko has contacted the central office of the Federal Penitentiary Service with a request to provide qualified medical care to political prisoner Sergei Komandirov, who is held in Penal Colony No 4 in the city of Torzhok. The mother of the political prisoner says that Komandirov has health problems.

According to his mother, Sergei Komandirov suffers from spinal diseases that cause constant pain, the young man also has problems with the blood vessels of the brain, increased flickering in the eyes and noise in the ears. A year ago, Komandirov developed problems with the sensitivity of his toes. Now, neoplasms have appeared on his legs.

“After the eye surgery, his vision was restored, but now his right eye again sees very poorly,” Sergei’s mother Yelena writes.

“Considering all the aforementioned problems, I strongly request the Federal Penitentiary Service to verify this information and provide Sergei Komandirov with the necessary medical care. His condition requires a careful and qualified approach,” the appeal signed by Semyon Kovalyov, a member of the Smolensk Regional Council of Yabloko, runs.

Smolensk activist Sergei Komandirov was found guilty of “justifying terrorism” and sentenced to six and a half years in prison for reposting someone else’s video about a staged “trial” over representatives of the Russian government. He was arrested in the fall of 2021, and the court made the verdict in July 2022. The judges reviewed five volumes of the criminal case in just four days – activists called it an express trial and a record for Russia. The Memorial society considers Sergei Komandirov a political prisoner.