Anti-Putin Shaman's Request To Get Transferred To Less Restrictive Psychiatric Clinic Rejected Again

Siberian shaman Aleksandr Gabyshev (file photo)

A Russian court again refused to transfer to a less restrictive psychiatric clinic a Yakut shaman who became known across the country in 2019 for his attempts to march to Moscow to drive President Vladimir Putin out of the Kremlin. Aleksandr Gabyshev's lawyer, Aleksei Pryanishnikov, said on February 12 that it was the fourth such rejection of a recommendation by the psychiatric clinic where his client was placed against his will in July 2021. Shamans have served as healers and diviners in Siberia for centuries. Soviets harshly repressed the mystics. In recent years, they have been regaining prominence. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities, click here.