Court Upholds Decision to Keep Anti-Putin Shaman in Psychiatric Confinement Amid Concerns for His Well-Being

A court in the Far East of Russia has once again turned down the request to move anti-Putin shaman Alexander Gabyshev from a high-security psychiatric hospital to a regular medical facility, marking the third such denial in two years, as reported by his attorney on Friday.

The Ussuriysky District Court, located in the Primorye region, issued this ruling following a higher court’s decision in February that reversed its earlier approval for the transfer made in December. Lawyer Alexei Pryanishnikov has indicated that Gabyshev, who is 56 years old, was detained in 2019 after attempting to walk from his home in the Sakha (Yakutia) republic to Moscow with the aim of “exorcizing” President Vladimir Putin.

For much of the past six years, Gabyshev has been held in psychiatric institutions, where Pryanishnikov claims he has been subjected to treatments that pose serious risks to his health.

The attorney has previously mentioned that independent medical professionals have confirmed Gabyshev’s mental stability and recommended his transfer, but their advice has been disregarded by the courts.

The Ussuriysk court rejected the transfer requests in both December 2023 and May 2024.

Amnesty International and the Russian human rights organization Memorial both categorize Gabyshev as a political prisoner, with Amnesty stating that he “has become a target of the state for simply expressing his opposition to Putin.”

The practice of confining political dissidents to psychiatric hospitals was historically referred to as punitive psychiatry during the Soviet era. Up until the late 1980s, critics were often diagnosed with conditions like “sluggish schizophrenia” or various forms of paranoia and subsequently incarcerated in such facilities.