The court extended the detention of a Nizhny Novgorod Pastafarian in hospital. His case was transferred to the prosecutor's office

On February 1, the Sovetsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod extended the period of compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital for Nizhny Novgorod Pastafarian Alexey Onoshkin until March 10. This was reported by OVD-Info lawyer Kristina Tyurina, who represents the man’s interests in court.

At the same time, at the end of 2022, the treatment period recommended by psychiatrists of 30-60 days expired .

Tyurina also said that the security forces completed the investigation against the man, and his case was transferred to the prosecutor's office.

In August 2022, a criminal case was opened against Onoshkin under the article on the dissemination of “fakes” about the Russian army based on political enmity (clause “d”, part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The reason for the persecution of the man was a post on VKontakte about the destruction of the drama theater in Mariupol , in which he called the Russian military “Russians.”

At first, Onoshkin was sent to a pre-trial detention center, but on October 3, 2022, the court ordered his transfer to a hospital because the man has a mental disorder. The investigator requested this; the defense did not object to this decision.

On November 7, a new case was opened against the Pastafarian - on calls for terrorism (Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). What caused it is unknown. Later the cases were combined into one proceeding.

• Alexey Onoshkin is a blogger, traveler, political activist and priest of the Temple of the Flying Spaghetti Monster . According to OVD-Info, since 2012 he has repeatedly faced arrests during public rallies and otherpressure from the authorities. In April 2022, he was forcibly admitted to a psychiatric hospital after a citizen claimed that the activist was suicidal because of a video in which Onoshkin said that the Russian authorities were driving him to suicide. The man was released from the hospital in July.
• Since February 24—the first day of the “special operation” in Ukraine—residents of Russian cities have been going out to anti-war rallies every day and talking about the tragedy online. Anti-war speeches and statements become grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 430 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our guide .