Threatened with a psychiatric hospital

The Yekaterinburg blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky, arrested on charges of insulting the feelings of believers, complains of threats and pressure from the employees of the investigative insulator.

As a member of the Public Supervisory Commission (PMC) Dmitry Kalinin, regularly visiting Sokolovsky, said on his Facebook , a psychiatrist who works in a pre -trial detention center visited Ruslan. She threatened the blogger that on Wednesday in the evening he would be sent on a psychiatric examination on a pre -jue basis. In a conversation, she hinted at the cancellation of the moratorium on the death penalty in Russia, said that she would hold him up to two months in the psychiatric block of pre -trial detention center, that other prisoners could beat him and that lawyers would not get to him. Sokolovsky took it as intimidation.

Read more about Ruslan Sokolovsky’s stay in the Radio Radio Liberty was told by the Member of the PMC Dmitry Kalinin:

- The psychiatrist from the pre -trial detention center did not introduce herself to Ruslan. She led some theological conversations with him, that is, she talked with him about things that do not relate to her professional duties. And she allowed herself some phrases that I quoted on Facebook. Ruslan took it as a threat.

- The psychiatrist also said that Ruslan could be sent to a psychiatric examination. How much is it possible?

-Well, employees were not aware that Ruslan should be transferred somewhere. Psychiatric examination is usually appointed by court decision.

- Dmitry, tell us about the conditions of Ruslan. What does his camera look like?

- There are six or seven people in this cell, there are three or four bunk beds. There is hot and cold water, a normal washbasin. There is an isolated bathroom - around the bathroom to the ceiling, the box and the door is separate, right in the chamber. There is the toilet is white, clean, there is a seat.

- What is his relationship with cellmates, what kind of people are sitting with him?

- Basically, these are young or middle -aged people, one man was older. They are almost all accused of drugs related to drugs. And Ruslan told me that he had already recognized the guys that almost all were arrested by drugs in this pre -trial detention center. Relations with cellmates are good. He says that he saw a report to himself on local television, and they laughed at the whole camera when all sorts of absurd things about him spoke there.

-Ruslan now has some kind of connection with the outside world, is he allowed to date?

- The defendants can communicate with the PMC employees, with lawyers, and all other dates - by permission of the investigator. Today, the lawyer is going to the Investigative Committee to ensure that the mother of Ruslan is allowed a date.

- And what does he do there at all?

- He began to write a book. He was handed over pens and paper, he began to make all sorts of notes, he will write something, to send some kind of journalism to the will. This does not apply to his work, to the materials, it is just his work, relatively speaking.

- Notes from the pre -trial detention center about the life of the defendant?

-Yes. And different journalism.

- Representatives of the Yekaterinburg diocese the day before changed their position in relation to Sokolovsky. How did Ruslan react to this?

- He said that he would not bring public repentance, because he understands that this gesture will not affect the court decision in any way. Because this is not a legal event. He already studied one course on the legal. He says that he is ready to go to the dialogue, but not so that first recognize everything, even without trial, and then they will help you somehow ... He no longer believes that they can help him. We told him that journalists interviewed representatives of other faiths about this case, and they said that they would have acted differently and, rather, would go to the dialogue, and did not sought to punish the guy. He took it with enthusiasm.

- What is his mood now, how does he hold?

- He was delighted that in the very first days his mother was helped, she was handed over the money raised by volunteers. He urged all his friends to continue to help, because it is not clear how much it could drag on, and his mother’s only breadwinner. In the pre -trial detention center, he got used to it, holds normally, realized that there are lawyers, that he was not alone there. Somewhat worried about possible lawless actions, for example, the threat of sending to psychiatry, but he is also ready. He is not left by a sense of humor. Otherwise, it is impossible there. You can’t despair, and he holds well!

Ruslan Sokolovsky was detained shortly after he published a video on social networks, which captures his game in catching Pokemon on a smartphone, including in an Orthodox church. He was charged with arousing hatred and insulting the feelings of believers. The court last Saturday arrested a blogger for two months. The Investigative Committee states that the persecution of Sokolovsky is not connected with the fishing of Pokemon, but with the insulting, as claimed, the content of the video.

On the eve of the Diocesan Council of Yekaterinburg condemned the act of Ruslan Sokolovsky. The official statement of the Council states that provocations aimed at "destruction of peace and consent, excitement of hostility and enmity on a religious basis" must be suppressed in strict accordance with the law. The diocese, as stated in the statement, intends to refrain from any requests to the law enforcement agencies on the extent of restraint for Sokolovsky.

At the same time, the Yekaterinburg Metropolitan Cyril did not previously exclude, which could make a petition for the liberation of Sokolovsky. The statement of the diocesan council says that the blogger must first “repent” - and the church will petition for pardon only if, as they said, his “complete and active correction”.