NEW YORK, May 8 (RIA Novosti) - Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian national serving a lengthy prison sentence in the United States, needs a medical surgery, his lawyer Alexei Tarasov said.
Yaroshenko, 44, was sentenced to 20 years in a US prison on drug trafficking charges in 2011. A court is due to hear Yaroshenko’s appeal later this month.
“Doctors at the Trenton hospital in New Jersey, where Konstantin Yaroshenko was taken from prison for a medical examination, concluded that he needs a surgery. Prison authorities are not taking any steps as of yet,” Tarasov said.
According to the lawyer, his defendant suffered injuries upon his arrest in Liberia. His family insists that Yaroshenko was subjected to tortures in Liberia.
Yaroshenko was arrested in an international drugs bust in Liberia in May 2010, in which four tons of cocaine were seized.
The former pilot says he was framed because he refused to give evidence against Viktor Bout, a Russian national jailed for 25 years on arms trading charges in April 2012.
Russia accused the United States of kidnapping Yaroshenko after notification of his arrest was mistakenly sent to a third country and he was transferred to New York to face charges without Moscow’s knowledge.
A US Department of State spokesman said an employee had “pressed the wrong button on the fax machine” and apologized to Russia in July 2010.
