Chelyabinsk resident Alexey Moroshkin was decided to be released from a psychiatric hospital

On June 1, the Sovetsky District Court of Chelyabinsk decided to release local resident Alexei Moroshkin from a psychiatric hospital, who was placed there in December 2015 after a trial on charges of calling for separatism.

As it became known from the lawyer of the Agora International Human Rights Group Andrei Lepekhin, who represents the interests of Moroshkin, his client should be released from psychiatric hospital No. 1 in Chelyabinsk in ten days. The court found convincing the words of hospital representatives that Moroshkin does not pose a danger to himself or others.

According to Moroshkin’s mother Tatyana, the court’s decision was made on the recommendation of the head physician of the hospital on the basis of an examination that took place on May 4. The hospital asked to stop compulsory treatment of Moroshkin. The prosecution supported this request, and the court agreed with it.

The case of calls for separatism was opened on the basis of Moroshkin’s posts on the VKontakte social network about the need to create the Ural People’s Republic. The reason for the decision on compulsory psychiatric treatment for Moroshkin, apparently, was his online publications and interviews dedicated to the virtual Church of the Chelyabinsk Meteorite that he invented. Despite the fact that Moroshkin was not registered with a psychiatrist before the case was opened, forensic experts during the investigation into the case of calls for separatism diagnosed him with “paranoid schizophrenia” with the wording “delirium of religious reformism.”

In addition, in October 2015, a case of vandalism was opened against Moroshkin in connection with painting a bust of Lenin in Chelyabinsk in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, although there is no evidence of his involvement in this in the case. On April 25, 2017, Moroshkin’s house was searched in connection with this case.