Lawyers fear jailed anti-war activist being subjected to ‘punitive psychiatry’

Activist Ivan Kudryashov, who was sentenced in June 2023 to six years in prison for attempting to burn down a Tver military enlistment office, has been moved from a detention center to a prison hospital’s psychiatric unit, the human rights project Solidarity Zone reported Monday.

The transfer took place on July 27, but Kudryashov’s lawyer, Maksim Kharchenko, was not allowed to visit him until August 2. When he arrived at the hospital, he found Kudryashov “in an immobilized state,” Solidarity Zone wrote on Telegram.

According to Kharchenko, hospital guards explained to him that Kudryashov had been “put in restraints” for “inappropriate behavior.” They added that they could untie him but that they wouldn’t do it because he would become “violent” and might “cause harm.”

Solidarity Zone also reported that Kharchenko was unable to find out what diagnosis Kudryashov was given or how else he is being “treated,” because there were no doctors around during his visit.

In June, Kudryashov declared a hunger strike after the head of the pre-trial detention facility where he was being held refused to meet with him to discuss rights violations he had experienced during his incarceration so far. Lawyers from Solidarity Zone said they are concerned that “punitive psychiatry methods” are being used against Kudryashov as revenge for the protest.