Anti-Putin Protester Sent to Psych Ward

A RUSSIAN court ordered that an activist be sent to a mental hospital after convicting him for protesting against President Vladimir Putin. In its verdict, the Moscow court found activist Mikhail Kosenko, who suffers from a mild form of schizophrenia, guilty of participating in an anti-Putin mass protest and using violence against police. The judge however ruled that due to his illness, Kosenko, 38, was mentally incompetent and must be admitted to a high-security psychiatric facility indefinitely. "The court ruled that Kosenko undergo compulsory medical treatment," his lawyer Valery Shukhardin said. Diagnosed with "sluggish schizophrenia" - a term for mild mental illness used in Russia - Kosenko had been treated on an outpatient basis before his pre-trial detention. His defence insists that he should not be hospitalised and continue treatment as an outpatient.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/anti-putin-protester-mikhail-kosenko-sent-to-psych-ward-in-russia/story-fni0xs61-1226735136582
http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-russian-activist-mental-institution-20131008,0,6077483.story