Russia Revives Soviet-Era Forced Psychiatric Treatment to Silence Dissidents

The Soviet-era practice of forced psychiatric treatment seems to be resurfacing in Russia as a tool to punish activists and opposition figures, The Moscow Times reported on February 20.

Russian courts have sentenced at least 49 people to forced psychiatric treatment on political grounds, according to the news outlet, citing the Memorial Human Rights Center .

The Memorial organization stated that Russian authorities exploit mental health diagnoses as a pretext for repression against dissidents, activists, Muslims, scientists, and musicians. Those accused are declared insane and sent to forced psychiatric treatment.

“The pattern of forced psychiatric sentences is always the same—at some point, the accused is declared insane and sent to a psychiatric hospital,” the human rights organization wrote.

According to their findings, political prisoners undergoing forced treatment are subjected to beatings, humiliation, and the administration of powerful drugs, including haloperidol—a medication used for schizophrenia, manic states, delusions, and psychosis.

Among those sent to forced psychiatric treatment is Nizhny Novgorod tour guide and blogger Alexey Onoshkin, who has been held in a special facility for a year. He was charged with spreading “fake news” about the Russian army and inciting terrorism over his comments and a post about the Russian bombing of the Mariupol Drama Theater on March 16, 2022.

On February 13, two second-year students from St. Petersburg State University of Telecommunications were sentenced to five days of administrative arrest for publicly shouting a Ukrainian “greeting.”