Defence of Valery Bailo, who died in SIZO, treats officials’ response as formal reply

Sergey Yanovsky, an advocate of Jehovah’s Witness* Valery Bailo, who died in a SIZO (pre-trial prison), believes that the Public Oversight Commission (POC) fulfilled its duties in a formal way and that no assistance was provided to his client. A representative of the POC reported that deceased Valery Bailo complained of an acute toothache.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that 67-year-old Valery Bailo died in the SIZO (pre-trial prison) on March 21. Relatives of the deceased convict claimed that he complained about his health state, but he was not provided with medical assistance. The advocate requested to conduct an investigation into the Valery Bailo’s death.

Roman Shadrin, a representative of the Public Oversight Commission (POC) for the Krasnodar Territory, claimed that “the POC raised archival documentation concerning the deceased convict.”

“Valery Bailo’s condition worsened. In particular, he suffered from toothache and pain in the stomach area. In 2018, the man was diagnosed with gastritis, and he needed medical treatment. Valery Bailo repeatedly sought help from the medical unit. No one accepted him to treat his stomach pain. After repeated requests, he managed to get an appointment with a dentist ... The dentist could only remove the tooth. Considering that the mentioned tooth was the only one with which Valery S. Bailo could chew food, he refused to remove it,” stated the appeal sent to the POC in July 2024.

“On July 1, 2024, during a legal consultation with Valery Bailo ... it was discovered that no one was providing him with medical assistance ... Because of his only diseased chewing tooth, which hurts a lot when eating solid food, the man eats only liquid food like a porridge and drinks tea ... O. He also continues to suffer from stomach pain ... He considers such conditions of detention unbearable and equal to torture,” the appeal stated.

*All the 396 Russian organizations of Jehovah’s Witnesses were recognized as extremist, and their activities in Russia were banned by court decision.