Dmitri Bogmut needs medical care!

Dmitri Bogmut, a 49-year-old employee of the St. Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics, is in a pre-trial detention centre on charges of spreading ‘fake news’ about the Russian armed forces (Paragraph D Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) as a result of anti-war posts on social media.

His condition is deteriorating every day. During his first six months in the pre-trial detention centre number 1 in St. Petersburg, he lost 20 kilograms and now weighs just 50 kilograms, despite being 182 centimetres tall. Such numbers raise serious concerns: the support group and his lawyer are convinced that he might have serious undetected health conditions, requiring an immediate medical examination. Before the arrest, Dmitri already had several chronic conditions: arrhythmia, heart defect, pancreatitis, liver issues, and severe myopia (-9 on both eyes). In the pre-trial detention centre, he started getting muscle atrophy and intense toothaches, but received no medical help.

Despite numerous filed complaints, the administration of the pre-trial detention centre denies Dmitri the medical attention he requires.

“I saw him at the beginning of November — it caught my attention how emaciated he looked. He told me he was taken to the paramedic — probably, he could be weighed there. A tall man, with sharpened facial features, you know, thin-armed… He said he had lost a lot of weight and that he is being de facto denied medical help, and that he had filed several complaints. He has no medical education, and neither do I — so it is difficult to say what is causing this acute weight loss. He says he has nervous exhaustion.” — an anonymous support group member told Mediazona.

We have collectively sent 2,805 appeals to the prosecutor’s office and the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) via Dyatel, requesting that immediate measures be taken to grant Dmitri Bogmut access to a medical examination.

How is Dmitri doing right now?

Despite weighing 62 kilograms now, he is still critically underweight for his 182 centimetres of height. The probes taken in December yielded no meaningful results: allegedly, the cause of his weight loss remains unclear. He was denied a more comprehensive examination under the pretext of not having enough grounds to warrant one. In his latest letters, Dmitri is complaining that he is experiencing muscle atrophy in his arms and legs, which he guesses could be a consequence of his liver issues. Apart from that, he is still to receive stomatological help — he has pulpitis in two of his teeth.

What’s next?

We have received standard meaningless responses from the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), which, on the grounds of lack of personnel, refused our request to send Dmitri to a hospital. The prosecutor’s office, however, cannot do the same: after an appeal, the investigators are obligated to conduct an inspection of Pre-trial Detention Centre No. 1 in St. Petersburg and inform us about its results. Currently, we have stopped collecting signatures, but we continue to fight for a medical examination and treatment for Dmitri Bogmut and will inform you if further assistance becomes necessary.

What else could be done?

Write Dmitri a letter — it is important for him to know that he is not alone. He is interested in not just physics, but everything concerning science, as well as the humanities. One can write a letter using Vestochka or at source=mindbox&utmmedium=email&utmcampaign=baryshnikov&utmcontent=cyber&utmterm=29072024>evenings dedicated to writing letters to political prisoners.

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