In the Russian Federation, defendants in political cases have been sent for compulsory treatment five times more often, UNN reports with reference to Astra.
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While up to three people a year were sent to a psychiatric hospital until 2020, and seven people a year in 2021, the number of people sent for compulsory treatment increased to 25 in 2023. In the first 4 months of 2024, 8 such decisions were reported, the Agency calculated based on data from OVD-Info, Memorial, and First Department. In total, since 2013, at least 55 cases of compulsory treatment of defendants in political cases have been reported.
At the same time, the sharp increase in cases of compulsory treatment in 2023 is due to the fact that courts began to pass sentences in anti-war cases initiated in 2022, according to OVD-Info. In addition, this data may be incomplete, as the topic of mental health is stigmatized in Russia, on the one hand, and on the other hand, people may keep silent about it so that the defendant can avoid a harsher punishment, Memorial believes.
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Between 2018 and 2023, according to Russian courts, 170 defendants were sent for compulsory treatment under articles on extremism, justification of terrorism, discrediting the army, fakes and calls for sanctions, more than half of them after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, it is impossible to distinguish between cases that are about real illness and those that are about repression.