Soviet Psychiatry for New Russia

In effort to crack down on media criticism, Russian State agencies are still using psychiatric institutions to suppress political opposition and a free press.

Giving an account of her ordeal, Larisa Arap, a Russian journalist and activist said that people are kept in psychiatric hospitals simply because of their political views.

Speaking on Friday, October 12th, to the members of Congressional Human Rights Caucus in a forum organized by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Larisa said she was arrested and detained at her doctor’s office.

She said that she had gone to her doctor to get medical clearance needed for renewal of her driver’s license (as is the practice in Russia) when the police officers with an ambulance arrived and forced her into the ambulance.

She added that she was then taken to psychiatric clinic and “this is done in conspiracy with some doctors”, she noted. “They had everything pre-arranged” she said.

She explained that she was then forcefully retained in a psychiatric hospital not because of health reasons but for her association with United Civil Front, an opposition group led by former world chess champion Garry Kasparov.

An independent psychiatric commission of experts assessed her and found no signs of mental instability and recommended her discharge from the hospital, she said. However, doctors ignored the commission’s recommendation and retained her in the psychiatric facility.

She disclosed that she was held for forty six days alternating her between different psychiatric facilities. She said that she was tortured, injected with drugs that made her very sick and now she has difficulty walking because her spine is injured.

Larisa noted that Russian government is practicing punitive psychiatry as another way of combating political opposition.

Speaking at the same forum, Nina Ognianova, Europe and Central Asia Coordinator for The Committee to Protect Journalists, said “in the month ahead of the general election, Russian authorities have consolidated control on influential journalists”.

She added that Russia is the third most risky country for journalists in the world after Iraq and Algeria.

She emphasized that this practice is a threat to journalists and freedom of the press in Russia because it is aimed at stopping journalists from reporting on government corruption and human rights abuses.

This horrifying method of forced psychiatric detention as punishment was used as a tool for political suppression in the former Soviet Union.

Emmanuel Opati is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.