URGENT ACTION

IMPRISONED nurse’s CONDITION deteriorates
Irina Danilovich, a nurse and human rights activist from Russian-occupied Crimea is still being denied healthcare. She was abducted by Russian security officials in April 2022 and sentenced to seven years in prison in December 2022 following an unfair trial. Her condition has gravely deteriorated, and she has almost completely lost her hearing due to ongoing ear inflammation. The authorities’ denial of adequate healthcare and other ill-treatment during Irina Danilovich’s incarceration has caused her condition to deteriorate and put her life at risk.

TAKE ACTION: WRITE AN APPEAL IN YOUR OWN WORDS OR USE THIS MODEL LETTER

Tatiana Moskalkova 
Human Rights Commissioner 
Smolensky Boulevard, 19, c 2
119121 Moscow
Russian Federation 
Email: Moskalkova@ombudsmanrf.ru
 A.Ovchinnikova@rightsrf.ru
 A.Scherbakova@rightsrf.ru

Dear Human Rights Commissioner,

I am writing to ask you to take urgent action in support of nurse Irina Danilovich. She has been arbitrarily detained following an unfair trial in Crimea in December 2022, in retribution for her criticism of the healthcare system and for exposing corruption. She was initially sentenced to seven years in prison. The sentence was reduced by one month following an appeal in June 2023, but her wrongful conviction was upheld. 

During her appeal, the court dismissed her request to postpone the hearing on account of her poor health, insisting that she was fit to attend. Irina Danilovich was made to attend the hearing online despite the difficulties in following the proceedings due to her hearing problems.

Irina Danilovich is currently held in Simferopol’s detention centre SIZO-1, where she has been suffering from severe ear pain and headaches for months. The prison authorities have denied her adequate healthcare and she has now lost most of her hearing. Irina Danilovich was taken to hospital where doctors ordered further medical examinations and treatment in March 2023, following her hunger strike protesting the denial of healthcare. However, the authorities have continued to deny her access to the healthcare she requires, which may amount to torture or other ill-treatment. 

The authorities’ denial of adequate healthcare and other ill-treatment during Irina Danilovich’s incarceration has caused her condition to deteriorate and put her life at risk.

I urge you to take all steps within your authority to ensure that Irina Danilovich: 
- is released immediately and unconditionally, acquitted and cleared of any trumped-up charges;
- pending her release, she is urgently provided with adequate healthcare and is protected from torture and other ill-treatment;
- all those responsible for the conditions of her detention and denial of medical care are held accountable, in fair-trial proceedings. 

Yours sincerely,

Additional information

Irina Danilovich (Iryna Danylovych) is a civic activist and a human rights defender who was exposing problems of the health care system in Crimea. She was very vocal and publicly condemned cases of politically motivated prosecution, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention of human rights defenders and other activists. 
On 29 April 2022, Irina Danilovich was abducted in Koktebel, Crimea, by members of Russia’s security forces. Her fate and whereabouts were unknown to her family and lawyer until 11 May. According to Irina Danilovich, she was repeatedly threatened with secret execution, and spent most of this time locked up in a basement in inhumane conditions. She was subjected to other forms of torture and other ill-treatment by her captors to force her to “confess” to state treason. After failing to achieve this her captors tampered with her personal belongings where they planted explosives, that were then used as a reason to prosecute and imprison her. 
Her trial commenced on 22 August 2022 at Feodosia City Court and was fraught with numerous fair trial violations. On 28 December 2022, she was sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of 50,000 Roubles (US$ 720) under Article 222.1(1) of the Russian Criminal Code (illegal purchase, transfer, storage and transportation of explosive substances or explosive devices). The de facto Supreme Court of Crimea considered her appeal and in June 2023 reduced her sentence by one month but upheld her conviction.
In March 2023, she went on a hunger strike in protest against the denial of adequate healthcare. As a result, she was taken to hospital where initial examinations were conducted concluding that she required further medical checks and urgent treatment. Nonetheless, she was taken back to Simferopol’s detention centre SIZO-1 and remains there without the healthcare she requires. 
People who have opposed the Russian occupation and illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the human rights violations committed there since 2014 have faced persecution, including harassment, intimidation, prosecution under trumped-up charges and enforced disappearances. International human rights monitors do not have access to Crimea and independent media are either banned or have been forced to shut down. Access to online platforms has also been blocked on the Crimean Peninsula and in Russia.

PREFERRED LANGUAGE TO ADDRESS TARGET: Russian, English
You can also write in your own language.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: [28 August 2023] 
Please check with the Amnesty office in your country if you wish to send appeals after the deadline.

NAME AND PREFFERED PRONOUN: Irina Danilovich (she/her)

LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur46/6611/2023/en/

Additional TARGET

Mr Andrei Kelin  
Embassy of the Russian Federation (Main Building)
6/7 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QP
Fax: 020 7727 8625 
Email: kanc@rusemb.org.uk