5.  The applicant was born in 1969 and lives in the town of Lyskovo, Nizhniy Novgorod Region. 6.  In 2004, after having been injected with a toxic drug, the applicant developed an arterial embolism and had to have his left leg amputated at thigh level. Four years later he was certified as having a second-degree disability. A special medical board decided that he would be provided with a prosthetic leg. On 2 February 2009 during a routine disability-related examination, he was also prescribed a cane. 7.  By 2010 the applicant had developed deep-vein thrombosis and post‑phlebitic syndrome of the right leg, a long-term complication of his main condition. 8.  On 26 November 2010 the police arrested the applicant on suspicion of drug trafficking. 9.  According to the applicant, the police took away his prosthetic leg and gave him crutches in order to increase his suffering and to force him to cooperate. The removal of the prosthesis was not noted in the police records. 10.  On the same day the Lyskovo District Court of the Nizhniy Novgorod Region remanded the applicant in custody. He remained in detention throughout the investigation and trial. 11.  On 10 December 2010 the applicant was transferred from a remand prison to a civilian hospital in Lyskovo on account of acute deep-vein thrombophlebitis. According to him, that condition had developed as a result of the removal of his prosthetic leg, which had caused him to place increased weight on his right leg. After successful surgery the applicant was discharged from the hospital on 30 December 2010. 12.  On 13 January 2011 the applicant was examined by an orthopaedic medical board, which established that he needed a prosthesis, crutches, a cane and some other orthopaedic devices. 13.  By the summer of 2011 a model of a prosthetic leg had been developed for the applicant, but he was unable to use it without the “prosthesis-orthopaedic assistance” needed to adjust it. 14.  In June 2011 the applicant applied for an examination by a special medical board with a view to determining whether his medical condition warranted early release. On 8 June 2011 the detention authorities wrote to him refusing to arrange the examination. 15.  On 23 June 2011 the Lyskovo District Court convicted the applicant of drug trafficking and sentenced him to imprisonment. Three months later the Nizhniy Novgorod Regional Court quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial. 16.  On 28 December 2011, while hearing the applicant’s criminal case anew, the District Court asked officials whether “prosthesis-orthopaedic assistance” was accessible to him in detention. 17.  In a letter dated 13 January 2012 the Nizhniy Novgorod State orthopedic service, which performs individual adjustment of prostheses, informed the court that such assistance could not be provided in a remand prison given the lack of special equipment there. 18.  Ten days later an NGO, the Committee for Civil Rights, complained to the Lyskovo prosecutor of the poor quality of the applicant’s medical treatment and the authorities’ failure to give him a prosthetic leg. According to the applicant, no reply was received. 19.  On 28 April 2012 the District Court found the applicant guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced him to five years and six months’ imprisonment. The sentence was upheld on appeal by the Regional Court and became final on 11 September 2012. 20.  Following his conviction the applicant again asked to be given a prosthetic leg. On 8 October 2012 he received a letter from the Federal Service for the Execution of Sentences in the Nizhniy Novgorod Region, informing him that on 2 February 2009 a medical board had only prescribed him a cane. The applicant was invited to apply for a special medical examination to determine whether he needed a transtibial prosthesis. According to the applicant, he promptly lodged an application as advised. 21.  In November 2012 the applicant was admitted to a prison hospital in Nizhniy Novgorod on account of an acute infectious inflammation of the leg and venal problems. 22.  On 3 December 2012, during his stay in the hospital, the following entry was made in the applicant’s medical file:
“Prosthetics refusal record
We, the undersigned, have made the present record to state that [the applicant] has refused prosthetics of the left limb.”
(The document was signed by the deputy head and two surgeons of the prison hospital.) 23.  Ten days later the applicant was discharged from the hospital. 24.  At some point the prison authorities requested the applicant’s admission to the prison hospital in order to provide him with a prosthetic leg. On 20 May 2013 the applicant was taken to the hospital. Four days later he formally asked the head of the hospital for a prosthetic leg. The hospital discharge summary of 13 June 2013 states that the prosthesis was ordered and that the applicant would be informed about its production in due course. 25.  On 10 December 2013 the applicant was transported to the premises of the Nizhniy Novgorod State orthopedic service, where he was given the prosthetic leg and afforded the necessary prosthesis-orthopaedic assistance. 26.  The applicant was released from detention in November 2014.