Appellate instance upholds compulsory treatment for author of graffiti about Putin in Rostov-on-Don

The court of appeal has reduced by a month the term of freedom restriction of Mikhail Selitsky, a resident of Rostov-on-Don, under the case of vandalism motivated by political hostility, but upheld his compulsory psychiatric treatment.

On October 24, it became known that a court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Mikhail Selitsky to 1.5 years of freedom restriction and compulsory treatment at a mental hospital, finding him guilty of vandalism based on political hostility.

According to investigators, Selitsky and several other people had graphitised the building with a statement about Vladimir Putin, expressing "clear disrespect for the society." According to the conclusion of the forensic psychiatric examination, Selitsky was not fully aware of his actions.

In Soviet times, dissidents were also sent to psychiatric hospitals, but forced outpatient treatment was not practiced then, Vyacheslav Bakhmin, a human rights defender, has commented on Selitsky's sentence.