R 241036Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2735
INFO AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 
AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 
AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 
AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG

UNCLAS ST PETERSBURG 000033 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: RS PHUM
SUBJECT: CHARUSHEV - FACTS MURKY: PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT OR POLITICAL 
PUNISHMENT? 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary.  Vadim Charushev, coordinator of a number of 
popular opposition political internet communities, was 
involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital on March 7 
where he underwent treatment.  While the exact circumstances of 
his hospitalization are unclear, he allegedly wrote in a letter 
from the hospital that he felt sick and needed medical 
assistance.  In that letter, he claimed he became sick after he 
had been forcibly injected with an unknown drug by unknown 
assailants, and charged that the incident was a result of his 
ongoing conflict with his former employer - the Petersburg 
Pension Fund.  On March 13, the court extended his term of 
forced hospitalization.  However, possibly as the result of the 
public campaign to free him, he was released on March 20 into 
the custody of his mother.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Vadim Charushev openly expressed his opposition 
political views as the coordinator of a number of internet 
communities at the Russian network vkontakte.ru.  One of these 
communities, which is highly critical of the Russian government 
and Prime Minister Putin in particular, was one of the largest 
in the entire network with about 10,000 members.  His political 
views reportedly became a source of conflict with his employer, 
a district Pension Fund, where Charushev worked as systems 
administrator.  In December 2008, he quit his job and moved to 
another department of the Pension Fund in another district. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Information on Vadim Charushev's forced placement to a 
psychiatric clinic became known to public thanks to the efforts 
of St. Petersburg United Civil Front (OGF) activists, who were 
in touch with Charushev's friends, contacts, family and lawyer. 
OGF remained our main source of information on the subject 
through to its conclusion on March 20.  Charushev himself was 
not an OGF member, but for the past several weeks he has 
maintained contact with OGF members.  They became acquainted at 
a political debate between OGF members and United Russia 
Legislative Assembly Deputy Vitaliy Milonov. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  We do not know exactly what happened on March 6 and 7 
except that on March 7 Charushev was admitted into a psychiatric 
hospital and subjected to unknown treatments.  According to a 
letter purportedly written by Charushev, in the early hours of 
March 7 he called the ambulance himself because he was feeling 
unwell.  OGF contacts suggested that Charushev's father, with 
whom he has political disagreements as well, might have called 
the police, who then handed him over to the psychiatric hospital. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Shortly after his hospitalization, Charushev's friends 
contacted the Civil Commission for Human Rights, an NGO which 
provides legal support to alleged victims of forced psychiatric 
treatment.  The Commission's lawyer represented Charushev's 
interests at the March 13 court hearing.  The court ruled to 
extend Charushev's hospitalization, and the lawyer began 
preparing to appeal the decision through the St. Petersburg City 
Court. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  On March 16, a letter appeared on the internet 
purportedly written by Charushev by hand while in the hospital 
and given to one of his visitors for posting on the internet. 
The letter claims that Charushev himself had sought one-time 
medical assistance but had been opposed to actual 
hospitalization.  The letter also claimed that his original 
sickness was caused by the injection of an unknown drug forced 
upon him an unknown man and woman while he was sitting on a park 
bench around 100 yards away from the Pension Fund building.  The 
letter stated that he did not remember anything after that until 
he revived and found himself in a different location.  He claims 
that this attack on him might have been organized by the Pension 
Fund Administration or was somehow connected to his conflict 
with that agency. 
 
¶7. (SBU)  On March 17, OGF organized a protest in front of the 
psychiatric hospital.  About 30 people, including Charushev's 
internet contacts, attended the protest and demanded his 
immediate release.  The Hospital's Chief Doctor, who was 
allegedly intimidated by all the attention his institution 
received during those days, came out to the protesters and 
promised that Charushev would be released on March 20. 
 
¶8. (SBU)  Throughout the day on March 20 the press continued to 
report that Charushin's whereabouts were unclear and we received 
conflicting reports regarding his status.  However, in the late 
afternoon, we were able to confirm that he had been released at 
about noon that day into the custody of his mother. 
 
¶9. (SBU)  Comment.  During Charushev's stay in the hospital, OGF 
members made a number of public statements which charged that 
the incident was punishment for Charushev's political 
activities.  They also charged that public authorities were 
testing the public's reaction to the case, with the intent of 
applying forced psychiatric treatment more frequently in the 
future if the public's reaction was subdued.  Post is not in a 
position to evaluate the validity of these claims, specifically 
whether Charushev's hospitalization was politically-motivated or 
reflected his family's assessment that he needed medical 
assistance.   We will continue to monitor the aftermath of the 
case and attempt to establish greater clarity.  End Comment. 
 
GWALTNEY