Russian Activist Forced into Psychiatric Confinement
A Russian opposition activist, who says he was confined against his will to a mental hospital, will remain in the facility after a St. Petersburg court ruled in favor of his compulsory treatment Saturday. According to the ZAKS.ru online newspaper (Rus), Vadim Charushev is well known as the creator of several political web-resources and social networking groups.
According to Charushev’s attorney, Viktor Grozovsky, the activist was detained by police, then forcibly hospitalized on the night of March 6th. It remains unclear why Charushev was first arrested.
Grozovsky said he had spoken with Charushev for two hours, and commented that he appeared to be “a completely normal, mentally sane person.” Charushev told the attorney that he had categorically refused to sign for treatment as a voluntary patient, at which point he was threatened. The activist was told: “You won’t get out of here, you’ll be ...