MOSCOW, June 6 (RAPSI) – The Supreme Court has supported the complaint of three inmates of a Yekaterinburg prison who claim that their attorneys were not allowed into the prison hospital, RAPSI reported from the courtroom on Friday.

Until recently, the prison hospital head had the authority to set a temporary ban on visiting a sick inmate if that inmate was under quarantine and if such visits could be a threat to the inmate’s or the visitor’s health.

According to the plaintiffs, prison authorities often take advantage of this regulation to hide evidence of torture, keeping lawyers away from their client and preventing photo and video capture of the injuries. The footage can be used as evidence in court.

Judge Nikolai Romanenko has ruled to amend this regulation, allowing sick inmates to meet with their lawyers. The current version of this regulation will be invalidated as of the court decision.

According to the complaint filed by three prison inmates, Vitaly Knyazev, Denis Finogenov and Rustam Shamayev, who are represented by lawyer Roman Kachayev, the denial of a lawyer’s visit to a prison or a remand center violates an inmate’s right to legal aid.

There is no Russia law that would restrict anyone’s right to legal aid, Kachayev said, and even inmates in TB or mental hospitals are entitled to the unlimited right to meet with their lawyers and priests.

Representatives of the Justice Ministry and Healthcare Ministry, whose joint regulation is being contested by the prisoners, said that the decision to allow hospital visits is up to physicians who serve at prison hospitals because they have more knowledge than lawyers to determine whether that visit could harm their patient.