"Power politicizes even witchcraft"

The Soviet principle of punitive psychiatry. Psychiatrist Yuri Savenko and psychologist Lyubov Vinogradov - about the "Shaman of the Shaman" and other ghosts of the past

The Yakut shaman Alexander Gabyshev was sent to the Novosibirsk Psychiatric Hospital of a specialized type with intensive supervision. In support of the requirements for forced treatment, the doctors indicated that the shaman did not undergo a planned examination in the institution, refused to treat, showed aggression and "again began to make high -profile statements in the media." Based on the results of the psychological and psychiatric examination, Gabyshev was recognized as insane. The study was carried out as part of a criminal case of violence against the Rosgvardean. However, experts from the independent psychiatric association of Russia (NPA) do not agree with the conclusion of a state examination. They are sure that Gabyshev does not pose any danger and there is no need to send him for compulsory treatment to a psychiatric hospital with a tough regime, as in prison.

Alexander Gabyshev gained fame in March 2019, when he went on foot from Yakutsk to Moscow.

In September 2019, he was detained and sent back to Yakutia. From May to July 2020 he was in the local republican neuropsychiatric dispensary.

In October 2019, in connection with the first criminal case against the shaman (he was accused of calling for “extremist activity”), the NPA commission consisting of four specialists came to Yakutsk and conducted a psychiatric examination of Gabyshev at the request of his lawyer. In the conclusion, the experts indicated that the shaman "suffers from a chronic mental illness in the form of a schizo -active disorder." Separately indicated that he does not represent social danger and does not need strict forced treatment, first recommending an ordinary hospital with further transfer to outpatient or semi -stationary dilution.

Gabyshev announced his new campaign against the president, which was supposed to begin in March this year. On January 27, the shaman was again detained and taken to a mental hospital. And in July, the Yakutsk City Court decided on the direction of Gabyshev for forced treatment to a specialized type psychiatric hospital with intensive supervision. In the courtroom, handcuffs were put on him and took him to a pre -trial detention center.

NPA experts believe that Gabyshev intend to hide in a psychiatric hospital, away from home and for many years, not at all for breaking his clothes and scratched an employee of the Russian Guard, but for announcing a third trip to the Kremlin. Such a disappointing conclusion was reached by a psychiatrist, President of the NPA Yuri Sergeyevich Savenko and a psychologist, executive director of NPA Lyubov Nikolaevna Vinogradova after a personal meeting with the shaman. “New” asked them to tell about the state of Gabyshev - in principle, about what position the judicial psychiatry is in.

- It is known that Gabyshev has a difficult character. How did you manage to meet with him and agree on an examination? What could you find out about the Yakut shaman?

L. Vinogradova : Gabysheva’s lawyer Olga Timofeeva invited us to Yakutsk. Her client then passed the suspect in the first criminal case for "calls for extremist activity." Gabyshev was under the subscription about the wonness. We met with him for several days, in particular, in the house of his sister. He has no property, he is an ascetic person. We saw how his life was arranged, a dwelling and a completely harmless dog were decorated, about which they wrote that he threatened to let her go. It turned out to be a ridiculous fiction.

He said that after graduation he entered the Geological Department of the Yakut State University, a year later he was drafted into the army. He served in the Trans -Baikal Territory, where his grandfather “flourished”, but managed to withstand the tests. “I always endure stress normally,” he told us. Then he returned to his studies, but he was soon expelled from the university in connection with academic poorness. I mastered the specialty of the electric welder.

In 2000, he studied at the Faculty of History of the Yakut State University, in person, then in absentia, because he needed to work. In the last courses, he was covered by the ideas of combining paganism and Christianity, he prepared a thesis on this topic. Despite the criticism of the scientific leaders, he continued to persistently prove his case. He married and accepted Orthodoxy at the insistence of his wife, but still remained an adherent of shamanism. Later, he faced his wife’s oncological disease, decided to completely devote himself to the care of her and treatment. He lived with her for about seven years, worked as a stoker in a boiler room.

Gabyshev’s condition changed dramatically after his wife’s death, he survived her death very hard, accusing himself. At the peak of depressive experiences, he decided to go into hermit: at one time he was starving, living in a yurt, refused meat and fish, ate berries and herbs, suffered flu, colds, and poisoning without drugs. I decided that I had to go through all the tests in order to “cleanse” and initiate in the shaman. So he lived for 2.5 years.

On the third day of our stay in Yakutsk, we met his supporters. In Yakutia, many people support him. The shamans are seriously treated there.

Gabyshev did not stain himself in anything, helped people. He had a feeling of his mission: he must free the world, first of all Russia, from the evil, in his opinion, forces that are sitting in the Kremlin.

- What are your impressions of Gabyshev?

L.V .: very good.

Yu. Savenko : Very friendly. He was imbued with trust in us, his intuition is well developed - he instantly feels how they relate to him.

L.V .: Looks subtle, weak, but an inner rod is felt. If we were talking about what was happening in the country and its mission, then he immediately showed extreme firmness. He said that in any case he would do what he should. He was stopped now, but he still has time. Such a supervalued idea.

Yu.S. : Referred to Jeanne d'Arc and Mahatma Gandhi.

L.V. : He always emphasized the peaceful character of his mission, no violent actions. Only expel the evil spirit from the president.

- Did it seem to you that all this sounds strange at least?

Yu.S. : Yakutia is a huge territory and the richest region where the poor people live. There would be a democratic regime, they would be richer than the Norwegians. The authorities, apparently, are looking at the ideas of Gabyshev as a spark that can ignite. For her, this is a policy. And for him - no, for him this is an ethical problem.

Although we also diagnosed him, but we strongly indicated that Gabyshev could be treated outpatiently. There are different types of treatment and observations in addition to outpatient: outpatient outpatient, forced in a general type of hospital, in a specialized type hospital and in a specialized type with intense observation. And this means - 5-7 years and more. The reverse move to soften the regime is stepped, you cannot immediately leave home from a specialized type hospital. This is the villainy to put Gabyshev there! The power itself causes counter -reaction in people who do not tolerate injustice. She herself promotes the protest.

L.V. : As a result, in the second criminal case, Gabyshev conducted an examination, which recommended that he be recognized as insane. We agree with this. At that moment, when a detachment of riot police arrived to storm a tiny hut to pick him up, he was outraged, waved his “shamanic sword” and ran around the site. But he did not attack anyone. And he himself received a head injury, more serious than a scratch on the riot police 'thigh. Experts correctly admitted that he did not understand the significance of his actions. He was supposed to be exempted from criminal liability and prescribe compulsory medical measures, since he was in a state of mental disorder. But not in a specialized type with intensive supervision.

The expected for Gabyshev could be the appointment of compulsory treatment in a general hospital with a subsequent transfer to outpatient treatment. This is a more or less free regime. And the hospital of a specialized type, and even with intensive observation, obviously means the imprisonment of Gabyshev for many years in a closed institution among really dangerous patients. There is a very stringent regime, a person does not have the right to leave the chamber chamber unaccompanied by the guard, they take a system several times a day to the toilet. The rest of the time is in a bucket.

- How long is it sent to such conditions?

L.V. : The fact of the matter is that the deadlines are not agreed.

Yu.S .: It is terribly crushing psychologically.

L.V. : Many human rights activists advocate that the treatment period should not exceed criminal punishment under this article. We came across in our practice when a person was convicted of stealing sausages in a store, but recognized as insane.

If they were simply judged, he would have received a conditional period or a fine. And so it gets into a psychiatric hospital, and it is not known how much he will stay there.

This is inevitably for several years, so we are worried about the fate of Gabyshev.

- What did not suit you in the state examination of Yakut doctors?

Yu.S. : We did not dispute the diagnosis, but disputed practical measures. Most importantly, it was necessary to limit ourselves to an outpatient forced treatment, to which he could give consent. If not, then there would be automatically inpatient treatment of the general type. At that break that turned out [before the second detention], he abandoned his activity. And as it were, he was cured, and he was conflicting with a diagnosis and with all articles of laws prescribed the most difficult conditions for treatment, which can rather decumpensate the disease.

Do not forget that doctors, making appointments, are not always free to make their decision. The first time Gabyshev was taken to a psychiatric dispensary, the doctor refused to accept it - there was no reason. It was a decent act! And expressive evidence of the patient's condition. But the employees who arrived with him in civilian clothes managed to persuade Gabyshev to voluntarily go to the hospital. And he agreed that it was uncharacteristic of a delusional patient.

And the last time Gabyshev was in the Republican Yakut neuropsychiatric dispensary in a general branch. In the summer, he was about to write it out for outpatient treatment, but the judicial psychiatrists were rushing with the examination and quickly issued an imprisonment with the most stringent recommendation.

- Will the term “punitive psychiatry” apply to his cause?

L.V. : Undoubtedly!

Yu.S. : I write everywhere that this is a political matter, since Gabyshev does not represent any psychopathological danger. In the conditions of the authoritarian regime, the authorities are politicizing everything, even witchcraft.

- An independent psychiatric association is a constant tough opponent of the situation in Russian judicial psychiatry. What is the situation with examinations now? Have you met the conclusion of experts for your practice, which was, roughly speaking, a custom character?

Yu.S. : Of course, this is the case of Kosenko ( the former defendant in the “swamp business”, sentenced to forced treatment in a general hospital . - Ed. ). I was then declared the CIA agent for condemning the judicial psychiatrists who recognized Kosenko as insane. Although he was neatly voluntarily treated on an outpatient basis and did not pose any danger, and still prescribed forced treatment in the hospital.

L.V. : To say that there are exemplary examinations, when doctors call and offer to make a specific decision, we cannot.

Yu.S. : It is unprovable!

L.V. : And this was not before. This is what is in the air: doctors themselves feel in which case it is necessary to make what decision. Or run consult, but this is not reflected anywhere.

Yu.S. : I worked at the Institute. V.P. Serbian. During the examination, you have the right to a special opinion, but if you use it, then they create unbearable working conditions.

L.V. : Although there are examples when there is not enough evidence to be brought to criminal liability, but you can send it to a psychiatric hospital. Recently, representatives of the eco -activist turned to us ( in August, a girl with a crossbow climbed on a poplar in the Grandmother's Park of Culture and Rest, protesting against the demolition of houses in the area under the renovation program . - Ed. ). She was accused of hooliganism. The girl conducted an outpatient examination, but the experts could not identify anything and sent to a stationary examination. This is already some threat and an attempt to put pressure on a person. After all, no one wants to stay for three weeks in a closed dispensary in difficult conditions.

Yu.S. : The authorities have successfully achieved its goal: in the professional community, fear of the regime is spilled, in society - before psychiatrists.

L.V. : There is such a reinsurance. Previously, outpatient treatment was often prescribed. Now we rarely meet with such conclusions. Now the hospital is mainly prescribed, and this is for a long time. As if experts are afraid that they will be for such a “soft” decision.

-What, in your opinion, must be radically changed during psychological and psychiatric examinations? How should this system work?

L.V. : There must be an independent examination and an alternative.

Yu.S. : The most indigenous is a really independent court. Judicial psychiatry is clamped between the investigator and the court. The investigator formulates questions, and the expert is not entitled to collect any additional material beyond the tasks. Only a real expert will affect additional questions. And the judges say: we have no reason not to trust state experts, and any of our arguments are the voice of the egregious in the desert.

L.V. : There was a time when the courts entrusted us with forensic examinations. But in 2002, as a result of the threats of the Ministry of Justice, we had to abandon this practice, now we are conducting only extra -court examinations. Previously, experts had much wider rights, and we could challenge the decisions of state experts. And the court appointed a second examination in another place.

In the 90s, our experts included in the expert commissions of the Institute. Serbian. Now it has long been a thing of the past.

At the Serbian Institute, internal documents were published that they did not let anyone out of the outside.

Even when the court appointed an independent examination, and we were included in the judge by the commission, we were still not allowed. And although this court decision was not fulfilled, no one was punished for this.

Yu.S. : It is anecdotal that I am not allowed into the territory of the institute in the library!

- When did this turning point occur, that the door was closed in front of you?

L.V. : In the early 2000s, in accordance with the general situation in the country.

Yu.S. : Psychiatry is the most subtle indicator of the atmosphere in the country.

L.V. : The presence of any independent person in examination helps and disciplines. Another problem is that the experts are terribly overloaded. See how many examinations pass through a psychiatric hospital to them. N.A. Alekseeva and the Institute of Serbian. You can’t work like that. When a person comes from the side for examination, it acts on them. We are in order to at least let lawyers be allowed. And the defenders have the right to this. But at the Serbian institute they take a subscription from the subject that he does not require that someone else is present at his commission.

Yu.S. : Our forensic psychiatrists call themselves independent experts. Indeed, the examination by definition is always independent. But it is clear to everyone what is independent. Therefore, a more accurate option is an adversarial examination, when experts come from different sides. It is important that there is a discussion.