The Yakutsk City Court in Russia has extended the compulsory psychiatric treatment of shaman Aleksandr Gabyshev, who was subjected to state repression for his anti-Putin views, for another six months, until 18 December.

This was reported by human rights advocate Aleksey Pryanishnikov, who plans to appeal the ruling, according to the outlet Christians Against War.

According to the defence representative, the prosecutor opposed the inclusion in the case file of an assessment by an independent psychiatrist, but the court nevertheless admitted it into the materials. The decision was issued by Judge Maksim Gorokhov, the same judge who five years ago ordered Gabyshev’s compulsory confinement in a high-security psychiatric hospital.

Aleksandr Gabyshev became entangled in the psychiatric system after setting out on foot from Yakutsk to Moscow in 2019 to conduct what he described as a “ritual to expel Putin.” Supporters joined him along the way, but the shaman was detained at the border between Buryatia and Irkutsk Oblast.

Read about the Kremlin’s religious prisoners, including the fate of historian, civic activist, and warrior shaman Aleksandr Gabyshev, in LF’s feature article.