Weinstein's attorneys filed a lawsuit against New York over unsanitary prison conditions

Attorneys for former movie producer Harvey Weinstein, who is ill with cancer, have filed a lawsuit against the city of New York over unsanitary conditions in the prison on Rikers Island, where the producer is being held. The Associated Press (AP) reported on Nov. 27.

"When I last visited him, I found blood stains on his prison robe, possibly from IVs, and clothes that hadn't been washed in weeks. He wasn't even issued clean underwear, hardly sanitary conditions for someone with a serious medical condition," Weinstein's attorney Imran Ansari said.

In the lawsuit, the defense of the ex-film producer pointed out that Weinstein was given substandard medical care, and the premises were cold, reports "Gazeta.Ru".

Legal Department and the Department of Corrections of New York refused to respond to AP inquiries about the lawsuit.

Earlier, on October 22, NBC News reported that the 72-year-old Weinstein was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia - a type of bone marrow cancer. He is undergoing treatment at the jail on Rikers. The former movie producer also underwent emergency surgery in September to remove large amounts of fluid that had accumulated in his lungs and heart.

The September 9 edition of the US Sun reported Weinstein's hospitalization at Bellevue Hospital for chest pains. He was also hospitalized on July 26 due to pneumonia caused by a coronavirus. In addition to that, the ex-film producer was then treated for his other ailments such as diabetes and spinal stenosis.

Weinstein is in jail after a number of actresses, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Salma Hayek, accused him of harassment in 2017. According to the victims, he induced the actresses into intimacy by promising assistance with career advancement. Amid the scandal, Weinstein was fired from his own company, and the authorities of the state of New York began an investigation against him.

On March 11, 2020, a court in New York sentenced Weinstein to 23 years in prison on two counts of rape and forced sex. Six women testified against him in court. In February 2023, he was sentenced to another 16 years in prison because of another rape charge. Later, on September 5, 2024, the former film producer was cleared of charges of indecent assault on a woman in 1996.