Ilshat Aminov on ‘robot attack’ in Innopolis: ‘I advise the journalists to go to court’
A report on Safarov’s table
An incident with a medical robot in Innopolis after which several journalists got injured had big consequences, Realnoe Vremya found out. A letter of head of the Tatarstan Union of Journalists and Director General of TNV channel Ilshat Aminov got to the table of head of the Tatarstan president’s administration Asgat Safarov. Realnoe Vremya has a copy of this letter and reply signed by Innopolis’s supervisor, Vice Premier of Tatarstan Roman Shaykhutdinov at its disposal.
We should remind you that a MedBot М-304 robot was demonstrated at a presentation of investments projects for Innopolis SEZ’s supervisory board in late November. The robot is designed to disinfect rooms and is equipped with UV lamps. During the presentation, the lamps were left on for long, due to this, participants in the presentation consisting of journalists and organisers felt an acute headache and pain in their eyes at night after the event — many had to seek urgent medical advice. At least eight journalists were injured.
In a talk with Realnoe Vremya, Executive Director of Rofosoft PLC, which developed the robot, Regina Tsygankova recognised that safety rules were violated during the presentation. The management of Innopolis SEZ also blamed the designer of the robot.
Director General of TNV channel and head of the Tatarstan Union of Journalists Ilshat Aminov responded to the situation on the same day.
“It is blatant, very dangerous non-compliance with safety rules where people could have lost their sight. They came close to having their eyes burnt,” he claimed.
After the incident, Aminov sent a report to competent agencies asking them to sort the situation out, find the perpetrators and learn the causes of the incident. Safarov who is also the chairman of the Board of Directors at TNV channel and Tatmedia JSC received such a report too.
Victims ready for trials
In the letter signed by Shaykhutdinov, employees of Robosoft PLC are also blamed. And it is noted that they just orally warned journalists about the danger of the long impact of UV rays and didn’t provide protection.
It is stressed the company recognised its fault, while its executive director was admonished.
The victims also confirmed they received compensation — however, it is just several thousands of rubles for eye drops and money “for inconveniences”. In this light, Ilshat Aminov considers the incident hasn’t been resolved yet.
“People received serious injuries, they could have lost their sight, while the company just paid for eye drops. It is incomparable with the financial and moral damage done to the people who came to perform a task as journalists. Moreover, they (Editor’s Note: designers of the robot) claim they orally warned the journalists of the danger — many of the participants [in the presentation] say there weren’t any warnings. After that, it is a crime to demonstrate such a dangerous object and don’t care about its safety. In the end, somebody was admonished. I think the amount of compensations should be bigger, and for this purpose, I advise the journalists to go to court. And the apologies should be more understandable and clearer.”
Ilshat Aminov added that two of the victims — employees of TNV channel — are planning to file a suit against the organisers of the presentation. “I advised them to go to court and offered legal backing,” he said.
Realnoe Vremya also asked Robosoft PLC if the company considers the incident has been resolved.