Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09STPETERSBURG33
2009-03-24 10:36:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate St Petersburg
Cable title:  

CHARUSHEV - FACTS MURKY: PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT OR POLITICAL

Tags:  RS PHUM 
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R 241036Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2735
INFO AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 
AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 
AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 
AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG
UNCLAS ST PETERSBURG 000033 


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: RS PHUM
SUBJECT: CHARUSHEV - FACTS MURKY: PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT OR POLITICAL
PUNISHMENT?

UNCLAS ST PETERSBURG 000033


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: RS PHUM
SUBJECT: CHARUSHEV - FACTS MURKY: PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT OR POLITICAL
PUNISHMENT?


1. (SBU) Summary. Vadim Charushev, coordinator of a number of
popular opposition political internet communities, was
involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital on March 7
where he underwent treatment. While the exact circumstances of
his hospitalization are unclear, he allegedly wrote in a letter
from the hospital that he felt sick and needed medical
assistance. In that letter, he claimed he became sick after he
had been forcibly injected with an unknown drug by unknown
assailants, and charged that the incident was a result of his
ongoing conflict with his former employer - the Petersburg
Pension Fund. On March 13, the court extended his term of
forced hospitalization. However, possibly as the result of the
public campaign to free him, he was released on March 20 into
the custody of his mother. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Vadim Charushev openly expressed his opposition
political views as the coordinator of a number of internet
communities at the Russian network vkontakte.ru. One of these
communities, which is highly critical of the Russian government
and Prime Minister Putin in particular, was one of the largest
in the entire network with about 10,000 members. His political
views reportedly became a source of conflict with his employer,
a district Pension Fund, where Charushev worked as systems
administrator. In December 2008, he quit his job and moved to
another department of the Pension Fund in another district.


3. (SBU) Information on Vadim Charushev's forced placement to a
psychiatric clinic became known to public thanks to the efforts
of St. Petersburg United Civil Front (OGF) activists, who were
in touch with Charushev's friends, contacts, family and lawyer.
OGF remained our main source of information on the subject
through to its conclusion on March 20. Charushev himself was
not an OGF member, but for the past several weeks he has
maintained contact with OGF members. They became acquainted at
a political debate between OGF members and United Russia
Legislative Assembly Deputy Vitaliy Milonov.


4. (SBU) We do not know exactly what happened on March 6 and 7
except that on March 7 Charushev was admitted into a psychiatric
hospital and subjected to unknown treatments. According to a
letter purportedly written by Charushev, in the early hours of
March 7 he called the ambulance himself because he was feeling
unwell. OGF contacts suggested that Charushev's father, with
whom he has political disagreements as well, might have called
the police, who then handed him over to the psychiatric hospital.



5. (SBU) Shortly after his hospitalization, Charushev's friends
contacted the Civil Commission for Human Rights, an NGO which
provides legal support to alleged victims of forced psychiatric
treatment. The Commission's lawyer represented Charushev's
interests at the March 13 court hearing. The court ruled to
extend Charushev's hospitalization, and the lawyer began
preparing to appeal the decision through the St. Petersburg City
Court.


6. (SBU) On March 16, a letter appeared on the internet
purportedly written by Charushev by hand while in the hospital
and given to one of his visitors for posting on the internet.
The letter claims that Charushev himself had sought one-time
medical assistance but had been opposed to actual
hospitalization. The letter also claimed that his original
sickness was caused by the injection of an unknown drug forced
upon him an unknown man and woman while he was sitting on a park
bench around 100 yards away from the Pension Fund building. The
letter stated that he did not remember anything after that until
he revived and found himself in a different location. He claims
that this attack on him might have been organized by the Pension
Fund Administration or was somehow connected to his conflict
with that agency.


7. (SBU) On March 17, OGF organized a protest in front of the
psychiatric hospital. About 30 people, including Charushev's
internet contacts, attended the protest and demanded his
immediate release. The Hospital's Chief Doctor, who was
allegedly intimidated by all the attention his institution
received during those days, came out to the protesters and
promised that Charushev would be released on March 20.


8. (SBU) Throughout the day on March 20 the press continued to
report that Charushin's whereabouts were unclear and we received
conflicting reports regarding his status. However, in the late
afternoon, we were able to confirm that he had been released at
about noon that day into the custody of his mother.


9. (SBU) Comment. During Charushev's stay in the hospital, OGF
members made a number of public statements which charged that
the incident was punishment for Charushev's political
activities. They also charged that public authorities were
testing the public's reaction to the case, with the intent of
applying forced psychiatric treatment more frequently in the
future if the public's reaction was subdued. Post is not in a
position to evaluate the validity of these claims, specifically
whether Charushev's hospitalization was politically-motivated or
reflected his family's assessment that he needed medical
assistance. We will continue to monitor the aftermath of the
case and attempt to establish greater clarity. End Comment.

GWALTNEY