USSURIISK, Russia -- A court in Russia's Far East has again extended the forced detention in a psychiatric clinic of a Yakut shaman who became known across the country for his attempts to march to Moscow to drive President Vladimir Putin out of the Kremlin.
Aleksandr Gabyshev's lawyer Aleksei Pryanishnikov told RFE/RL on February 22 that the Ussuriisk district court prolonged his client's forced treatment in a psychiatric clinic until mid-June.
Pryanishnikov added that the court also rejected the defense team's request to have Gabyshev examined by psychiatrists at Moscow's Serbsky clinic.
"We believe that medical examiners at the psychiatric clinic in Ussuriisk are reaching abstract conclusions about Gabyshev's social incompatibility when justifying the necessity to extend his treatment. Meanwhile, they agree that he has not expressed any aggression toward either himself or others," Pryanishnikov said.
Gabyshev's forced treatment in a psychiatric clinic was last extended in October.
Gabyshev, who has been stopped several times by the Russian authorities since 2019 when he tried to march from his native Siberian region of Yakutia to Moscow with the stated goal of driving Putin out of office, was sent to a psychiatric clinic against his will in July 2021, after a court found him "mentally unfit."
During the hearing, the court accused him of committing a "violent act against a police officer" when he was being forcibly removed from his home to be taken to a psychiatric clinic in January 2021.
The ruling was challenged by Gabyshev's lawyers and supporters who say his detention is an attempt to silence dissent.
The Memorial Human Rights Center in Russia has recognized Gabyshev as a political prisoner and Amnesty International has launched a campaign calling for his release.
Shamans have served as healers and diviners in Siberia for centuries. During the Soviet era, the mystics were harshly repressed. But in isolated parts of Siberia, they are now regaining prominence.