17 October 2008, 18:49
Physically impaired passenger adjudges 50,000 roubles from airline
The Cheryomushki District Court of Moscow has satisfied the claim of Natalia Prisetskaya against the S7 Airline; on June 30, the claimant was not admitted on board of the Moscow-Vladikavkaz aircraft, since she could move only in a wheelchair and got registered for the flight without an accompanying person.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the context of this incident, Russian human rights activists had held a roundtable "Why do we keep invalids off-board?" The public organization of invalids named "Perspectiva" had initiated the debates.
Representatives of the Airline have already declared their intent to appeal against the court judgement.
This judgement has already been named a precedent. The court took side of the physically impaired person. Natalia Prisetskaya, the claimant, who moves in a wheelchair, arrived to the courtroom in her car, which she drives herself, Channel One reports.
At first, Ms Prisetskaya could not believe that she would be able to attend the court session, since the building is not equipped with special ramps. However, then she was lifted up manually by court marshals, and Natalia could be personally present at the trial.
Natalia Prisetskaya is the manager of the peacemaking project implemented in Northern Caucasus by the regional invalids' public organization "Perspectiva", the "Vesti" has reported.
"I'm using different airlines not for the first year, but I've confronted the attitude of this sort for the first time. I think that I've been humiliated as an invalid," said Natalia.
The court session lasted for several hours. The claimant's advocates tried to prove that the fact means discrimination of invalids, while representatives of the Airline backed up their actions by federal laws and stated that they had acted in Natalia's own interests, since they could not have ensured her safety during the flight without an accompanying person.
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