May 29, 2024

A Psychiatric Punishment


A Psychiatric Punishment
Psychiatric Clinic Number 4 in Moscow Oblast, specialized in compulsory treatment. Psychiatric Clinic Number 4 VK page.

Russian independent news outlet Agentstvo (“The agency”) analyzed data from human rights projects OVD-Info, Memorial and Perviy Otdel (“The First Department”) and found that, in 2023, at least 25 defendants in political cases were sent for compulsory treatment in psychological hospitals. The frequency of such decisions in 2023 increased 5 times compared to the 2021-2022 average.

The sharp increase in cases of forced treatment in 2023 is explained by the fact sentences began to be issued in anti-war cases that were opened in 2022, OVD-Info press secretary Dmitry Anisimov told Agentstvo. A member of Memorial, Alexei Makarov, in a conversation with Agentstvo journalists, said that the data from human rights activists may actually be incomplete and underestimate the real state of affairs, since the topic of mental health in Russia, on the one hand, is stigmatized, and on the other, people may remain silent about it, so that the defendant avoids a more severe punishment, that is, a long term in a colony.

However, the problem with compulsory treatment is that one's length of stay in a hospital largely depends on the medical commission, which can decide to transfer someone to outpatient treatment or leave the patient in the hospital. Conditions in a psychiatric hospital can also be challenging. In particular, political activist Sergei Pribylov, sentenced to compulsory treatment, told the independent outlet DOXA about abuses by staff. Patients may be deprived of sleep, confined to beds for long periods, or prescribed doses of powerful tranquilizers, he said. In addition, even after their discharge from a psychiatric hospital, patients are not free: for some time they are under the supervision of a psychiatrist, are forced to take psychotropic meds, and undergo examinations in psychiatric hospitals.

Agentstvo noted that the share of cases of forced treatment about the total number of sentences in politically motivated cases increased from less than 2% in the 2010s and the first years of the 2020s to 3.3% in 2023 and 2.5% in 2024.

Despite the fact that the practice of using forced treatment is expanding, it has not yet reached the scale of the late USSR. Even the peak of last year cannot be compared with Soviet times, Memorial  member Alexei Makarov told Agentstvo: “In the mid-1970s, approximately every sixth person convicted of anti-Soviet agitation or for spreading deliberately slanderous fabrications was subject to compulsory treatment."

You Might Also Like

The Power of the Zine
  • May 15, 2024

The Power of the Zine

Artist Anna Dial uses updated samizdat methods to publish her "zines" and avoid censorship. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955