In the Petersburg courtroom, a woman in a green sweater stands behind bars. She holds a special tool for measuring heart activity in one hand: a Holter monitor. Her name is Sasha Skochilenko, and she has a heart defect. A cardiologist who examined the 33-year-old several times in prison has noted a sharp deterioration in her condition since she was detained in April 2022.
It’s evening and the court is officially closed, but the trial in Skochilenko’s case is ongoing. After 7pm, the defendant asks to end the hearing early – she needs to change the battery in her heart monitor. If she doesn’t, Skochilenko says, the medical examination that she has been waiting for for a very long time will be disrupted.
But the judge claims that Skochilenko, an artist, could have ensured her heart monitor was charged in advance, and refuses.
