St Petersburg. Last November 15th, OVD-info reported that a defendant in the military “fakes” case has told about humiliation and torture in a psychiatric hospital.
The staff of the psychiatric hospital No. 3 named after I. I. Skovortsov-Stepanov abuse Victoria Petrova, a defendant in the case of military “fakes” from St. Petersburg. This is reported in her Telegram channel by her lawyer Anastasia Pilipenko.
As Petrova told her, she was forced to undress for a “bodily examination” in front of male staff, with women nearby at the time. Afterwards, the hospital staff mocked and laughed at her in response to her request to change her pad before the examination, as she was bleeding on her legs due to menstruation.
Petrova’s hands were then clasped when she refused to take a shower in front of everyone present and asked to be left only with the women, as was the case in the pre-trial detention centre. The girl was then tied up and shaken “like a mutt” and promised to be beaten “just as a welcome to the new place”.
In addition, Petrova was tied to the bed by her hands and feet and injected with medication that made her unable to speak for two days. While she was under the influence of the medication, the hospital staff threw her clothes over her face.
The case against Petrova was initiated in May 2022 because of a video in VKontakte dedicated to the war in Ukraine. She was charged with spreading military “fakes” on the grounds of political or ideological hatred (item “e” part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). In the same month she was detained and sent to pre-trial detention centre. In October this year, the court transferred the girl to a psychiatric hospital. In addition, the girl was appointed a legal representative – her uncle became her legal representative.
18 November Petrova’s lawyer Anastasia Pilipenko said that the girl was transferred to another ward. She was no longer beaten, humiliated and tied to the bed, as well as injected with tranquilisers.
“Once again I am convinced that the main thing that can change the situation in such a closed institution is close attention from the outside,” Pilipenko commented.
Since 24 February 2022 – the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine – residents of Russian cities have been going on anti-war rallies every day and speaking out about the tragedy online. Anti-war speeches and statements become a reason for criminal prosecution. So far, more than 750 people have been prosecuted for protesting against the war with Ukraine. Read more about it in our infographic.
Article 207.3 (Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation) was included in the Criminal Code in March 2022 – this is how the authorities responded to anti-war speeches and statements, as well as the dissemination of information about the war that does not come from official Russian sources. The maximum penalty under the article is 15 years in prison.
“Anti-war case”
Since the first day of the invasion of Ukraine, residents of Russian cities have been holding anti-war actions and speaking out about the “special operation” on social networks. These actions become a reason for criminal prosecution.
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OVD-Info (ovd.info) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.
