7.  The applicant was born in 1967 and lived before his arrest in the town of Yoshkar-Ola in the Mariy El Republic.
8.  In 2010 the applicant was convicted of murder, possessing firearms and aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment.
9.  In April 2012 he was diagnosed with cancer of the left kidney. According to a medical certificate, on 25 July 2012 he underwent ablation in the prison hospital. A month later he was discharged and transferred to a correctional colony, despite complaining of deteriorating health.
10.  On 18 December 2012 a pulmonary fluorography revealed that the applicant had “suspected nidal shadows (in the middle zones) on the right and left sides”. An MRI performed a month later confirmed that he had metastases in the lungs.
11.  On 6 March 2013 a medical panel diagnosed him with “stage 3 cancer” of the left kidney (stage 4 is the final in the development of cancer).
12.  On 28 March 2013 the applicant was examined by another medical panel. The diagnosis included stage 4 cancer of the left kidney and multiple metastases in the lungs, as well as various secondary illnesses of the cardiovascular and digestive systems. The panel concluded that the applicant was eligible for early release as he suffered from a condition included in the list of serious illnesses precluding the serving of sentences in correctional institutions, as provided for by Decree no. 54 of the Government of the Russian Federation of 6 February 2004.
13.  A month later the Ingondinskiy District Court ordered the applicant’s release, finding that his condition was “serious enough” to warrant his discharge. The decision was quashed upon an appeal by a prosecutor and the matter was sent back to the District Court for re‑examination.
14.  On 24 July 2013 the District Court rejected a request by the applicant for release, citing the panel’s report of 6 March 2013 and, in particular, the fact that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 cancer, which was not included in the list of illnesses. At the same time, the District Court dismissed the findings made by another medical panel on 28 March 2013, considering that examination to have been “unlawfully conducted”. It also noted that the “applicant’s behaviour did not show his determination to get on the road to recovery”.
15.  On 21 November 2013 the District Court dismissed another request for early release by the applicant. Accepting that he suffered from stage 4 cancer, the court nevertheless held as follows:
“... [the applicant] is a particular danger to society, his improvement level is negligible, and according to the [colony] administration he has not got on the road to recovery. [The applicant] regularly receives symptomatic treatment and, in view of the specifics of his disease, does not need another kind of treatment.”
The decision of 21 November 2013 was appealed against and became final on 14 May 2014.
16.  The applicant’s lawyer sought the opinion of an independent expert from the Blokhin Cancer Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences. On 22 April 2014 three of its specialists prepared a reply, stressing that appropriate treatment could prolong the life expectancy of those suffering from stage 4 cancer for up to thirty months and that there were grounds to believe that the applicant needed specific antitumour treatment.
17.  In May and June 2014 Ms Artemyeva unsuccessfully applied to have the applicant transferred from the correctional colony, where no anti-cancer treatment was available, to the prison hospital.
18.  On 2 July 2014 a new medical panel diagnosed him with stage 3 kidney cancer with growing multiple lung metastases and metastases in the mediastinal lymph nodes. The panel’s findings also referred to the results of a computer tomography, which had revealed tuberculomas in the left lung.
19.  In August 2014 the applicant’s lawyer lodged a complaint against the administration of the correctional colony, alleging that they had failed to provide her client with adequate medical care. She requested that the court authorise the applicant’s transfer to the prison hospital.
20.  On 1 October 2014 the District Court dismissed the complaint, but granted the transfer request. Relying on statements by a representative of the applicant’s correctional colony and Ms Artemyeva, the court found that the applicant was not receiving anti-cancer treatment in the colony as such treatment had to be prescribed by an oncologist. The colony medical unit did not employ this type of specialist.
21.  On 20 October 2014 an independent forensic expert studied the applicant’s medical file at the request of his lawyer, and concluded that since the end of 2012 his condition had called for tumour immunotherapy. The expert also noted that since August 2012 his treatment had been merely symptomatic and that his drug regimen was limited to painkillers.
22.  At the end of July 2014 the applicant asked the Court to apply Rule 39 of the Rules of Court and to indicate to the Russian authorities that he should be provided with the necessary medical care or released from prison on health grounds.
23.  On 5 August 2014 the Government were requested under Rule 54 § 2 (a) of the Rules of Court to submit information about the applicant’s health, the quality of the medical assistance he was receiving and the conditions of his detention.
24.  On 15 September 2014 the Government responded, providing the Court with the applicant’s entire medical file. In addition, in merely a few lines, they stressed that:
(a) the applicant was undergoing treatment in the prison hospital;
(b) his health was satisfactory and “nothing was life-threatening”;
(c) the medical care was afforded to him “in full”, was “appropriate” to his condition and complied both with the requirements of Russian law and the guarantees of Article 3 of the Convention; and
(d) his illnesses were not included in the list of illnesses precluding the serving of sentences in correctional institutions.
25.  The applicant responded in November 2014, maintaining his claims of absent or sporadic medical assistance. He again relied on the conclusions of the forensic medical expert made on 20 October 2014.
26.  Following receipt of the Government’s submissions and the applicant’s comments on them, on 12 November 2014 the Acting President of the Section decided to indicate to the Government, under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, that the applicant should be immediately examined by medical experts independent from the penal system, including by an oncologist, with a view to determining (a) whether the treatment he was receiving in detention was adequate to his condition; (b) whether his current state of health was compatible with detention in a correctional colony or prison hospital; and (c) whether his current condition required his admittance to a specialist hospital or release. The Government were also asked to ensure his immediate transfer to a specialist hospital if the medical experts concluded that such admittance was required.
27.  The Court wrote to the Government on 13 November 2014. On 4 December 2014 the Government responded, submitting various documents.
(i)  A typed copy of the applicant’s medical history drawn up between September and November 2014, which contained a detailed schedule showing his daily intake of drugs. It appears from that document that he received basic analgesic and hypotensive drugs and cough medicine, and that an oncologist had prescribed him “lifelong” immunotherapy with a drug called “reodoron”. However, the drug intake schedule did not contain any mention of the drug “reodoron”.
(ii)  Certificates issued by the acting head of the medical unit in the applicant’s correctional colony, listing the diagnosis and giving a short description of general medical procedures. According to the certificates, on 20 November 2014 the applicant’s condition was “satisfactory” and his illnesses “did not present any danger” to his life. The certificates also indicated that there were no signs of progressive lung failure or “cancer intoxication” (paraneoplastic syndromes, such as fever). The acting head of the unit nevertheless noted that any illness, including those suffered by the applicant, could be life-threatening.
(iii)  A certificate dated 24 November 2011 issued by the head of the applicant’s correctional colony setting out his criminal record and convictions and indicating that since 23 August 2014 he had been detained in the correctional colony as there were no grounds to keep him in the prison hospital.
28.  In a one-page document the Government also answered the three questions which on 12 November 2014 the Court had asked to be addressed to independent medical experts. In particular, they stressed that upon the applicant’s arrival at each correctional institution he had undergone clinical tests and had been examined by medical specialists. He had thus been placed under regular medical supervision in relation to his illnesses. The Government argued that his condition was satisfactory and that there was no threat to his life as he was afforded medical care appropriate to his condition and in the required amount. They concluded that his condition did not call for admittance to a specialist hospital or release.
29.  The applicant commented on the Government’s information, insisting that the medical assistance afforded to him was inadequate and that his life was in imminent danger unless antitumor and radiation treatment were administered to him. He relied on the results of a medical examination on 18 December 2014, which had revealed new and growing metastases in the right adrenal gland, the left brain hemisphere and the right cerebellar hemisphere.
30.  The applicant also submitted an alternative expert report commissioned by his lawyer. On 17 January 2015 two forensic medical experts from St. Petersburg State Medical University prepared a report responding to the three questions put by the Court in its decision of 12 November 2014. Assessing the quality of the applicant’s medical assistance, the experts noted that since August 2012 the applicant had only received symptomatic treatment with anaesthetics for his kidney cancer. No other cancer-related treatment had been given until December 2014. The experts drew up a list of various established and widely applied medical procedures, including immunotherapy, extensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which should have been provided to a patient such as the applicant to improve his condition and extend his life. The experts stressed that even after the growing metastasis in the applicant’s brain was discovered in December 2014 the prison doctors had not considered the possibility of radiotherapy. The experts noted that the drug “reodoron” mentioned in his medical record did not exist. They further criticised other aspects of his medical assistance, including the frequency and direction of important medical examinations. The experts concluded that the applicant’s life expectancy was critically low. He had no more than a few months to live, particularly in view of the fact that he was not being afforded the necessary treatment.
31.  Following communication of the case to the parties, on 29 June 2015 the Government informed the Court that the applicant had died on 8 April 2015. They submitted a copy of the death certificate and asked the Court, in the absence of any person wishing to pursue the application on his behalf, to strike the case out of the list of cases pursuant to Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention.
32.  The Government included the applicant’s medical record drawn up between December 2014 and April 2015 in a letter to the Court dated 24 September 2015. They also enclosed a number of certificates prepared by the acting heads of the correctional colony and colony medical unit. The acting head of the colony laid down the details of the applicant’s criminal record, indicated that he had not made any complaints to the colony administration between 21 November 2014 and 8 April 2015 and that a request he had made for early release had been dismissed by the Ingodinskiy District Court on 16 March 2015. In separate certificates the acting head of the medical unit recorded the progress of the applicant’s illness, placing particular emphasis on the rapid deterioration of his health in 2014 when new and growing metastases had been discovered in his lungs, lymph nodes, adrenal gland and brain, and the development of cancer intoxication, accompanied by serious bilateral polysegmental pneumonia, brain oedema and terminal kidney failure. The applicant’s condition had been considered particularly serious between 18 December 2014 and 1 February 2015, and then between 24 March and 8 April 2015. The assessment had been changed to moderately serious for the period 1 February to 23 March 2015, although no changes in the long list of conditions had been recorded.
33.  In the letter of 18 August 2015 the applicant’s lawyer informed the Court that Ms Artemyeva, the applicant’s sister and heir, wished to continue the proceedings before the Court on the applicant’s behalf. The lawyer enclosed a birth certificate as proof of the applicant and Ms Artemyeva’s relationship and copies of letters sent by various Russian authorities to Ms Artemyeva in response to complaints alleging that they had failed to properly treat the applicant.