A court in Almaty has ordered former hieromonk Iakov Vorontsov of the Astana and Almaty Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church to be placed in a psychiatric institution for evaluation. Vorontsov condemned the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops and has been held in a pre-trial detention center since February.
This was reported by Azattyq Asia, citing the court ruling.
The court preliminarily decided to send Vorontsov to a psychiatric institution in the village of Aktas in Talgar District for one month, while not ruling out a possible extension of the term.
Vorontsov’s lawyer, Galym Nurpeisov, told Azattyq Asia that investigators had raised the issue of a psychiatric examination back in April. At that time, the defense exercised its right to refuse.
“And now the situation is turning in such a way that the court is sending him there by force. We categorically disagree with this. Any examination must have grounds. Iakov Vorontsov has shown no signs whatsoever of mental disorder or suffering. This causes us serious concern. We are worried about the fate of our client,” Nurpeisov said.
The lawyer noted that he was simply informed of the motion requesting the examination and added that he intends to appeal the court ruling and is already preparing a private complaint.
Regarding Vorontsov’s detention conditions, the defense lawyer said they had succeeded in addressing several issues that violated his rights.
“His first complaint was that his head was shaved and his beard was cut. The person responsible for these actions was subjected to disciplinary measures. As I understand it, he was dismissed. There was also the issue that his Bible and prayer beads were taken away. We resolved that issue there. Everything was returned to him. There were also several бытовые matters,” Nurpeisov said.
As LF previously reported, on the night of February 13, hieromonk Iakov Vorontsov, known for his anti-war stance and criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church, was detained in Kazakhstan.
He is a former hieromonk of the Astana and Almaty Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. He became widely known in 2023 after criticizing Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, as well as the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In 2024, Vorontsov was suspended from ministry and defrocked. Criminal proceedings were also opened against him under Article 141 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan, “incitement of social, national, clan, racial, class, or religious discord, insult to national honor and dignity, or insult to the religious feelings of citizens.” The investigation was later terminated due to lack of evidence of a crime.
It is known that several years ago Vorontsov attempted to establish an Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan independent of the Moscow Patriarchate. He twice submitted registration documents to the Ministry of Justice and was denied both times.
Earlier, we reported that the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom included former Russian Orthodox Church priest Iakov Vorontsov in its international database of people persecuted for their faith.
