Relatives of Valery Bailo, convicted Jehovah's Witness*, worry about his health

For several months already, the defence of Valery Bailo, a convicted Jehovah's Witness* from the Krasnodar Territory, has failed to obtain medical treatment for him at the SIZO (pre-trial prison), where he is kept. After the appeal trial on October 1, Bailo expects to be sent to a penal colony, where it will be even more difficult to organize his treatment, the advocate asserts.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that this spring, law enforcers searched the home of the 66-year-old Valery Bailo, after which he was placed into custody. The human rights project "Support for political prisoners. Memorial" recognized him as a political prisoner. The Abinsky District Court sentenced Bailo to 2.5 years of freedom deprivation on charges of involvement in an extremist organization. In May, his defence said that Bailo needed urgent dental treatment due to acute pain; and he also suffered from a chronic disease and the consequences of a knee injury.

According to a source, Bailo's relatives tried to provide him with treatment at their own expense, but they failed to achieve this.

His associates appealed to the Public Oversight Commission (POC) with a request to help him with treatment, but the POC members concluded that there were no treatment options at the SIZO.

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