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April 11, 2007
RUSSIA: Journalist Vladimir Chugunov Held in Isolation in Psychiatric Detention
Vladimir Chugunov, an editor for the independent weekly Chugunka, awarded the 2002 Sakharov Prize for freedom of expression, has been held in psychiatric detention since 21 January 2007. More than two and a half months later he remains detained in isolation. There is acute concern for his well being.
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RUSSIA: Journalist Vladimir Chugunov Held in Isolation in Psychiatric Detention
Vladimir Chugunov, an editor for the independent weekly Chugunka, awarded the 2002 Sakharov Prize for freedom of expression, has been held in psychiatric detention since 21 January 2007. More than two and a half months later he remains detained in isolation. There is acute concern for his well being.
On 22 February 2007, the New York based Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following alert:
“The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned about the fate of Vladimir Chugunov, founder and editor of the independent weekly Chugunka, who has been imprisoned since January 21, according to his family and the independent Moscow daily Novaya Gazeta.
Chugunov was summoned to police headquarters in Solnechnogorsk, 40 miles (64 kilometers) north-west of Moscow, on January 21, allegedly as a witness in a robbery case but was then jailed, his brother Dmitry Chugunov told Novaya Gazeta. Policemen confiscated back issues of Chugunka at his home, Novaya Gazeta said. The robbery charge was eventually changed to “causing deliberate health damage,” a criminal indictment that carries up to eight years in prison.
Novaya Gazeta reporter Elvira Goryukhina told CPJ that she learned that Chugunov was then sent to a mental hospital.
Chugunov, a 2002 recipient of the prestigious Sakharov award for his journalism—a prize named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov and given to those who work in defense of human rights and civil liberties—wrote a series of articles critical of local administration. In July 2002, attackers beat Chugunov and broke his right hand, saying, “Here you go now, writer, write if you can!,” Novaya Gazeta reported.
When the printing house GorReklama, owned by the municipality, refused to print Chugunka in January 2005, Chugunov produced the paper at home, reported Moscow-based press freedom group Glasnost Defense Foundation.
“We are shocked at the arrest of our colleague Vladimir Chugunov and his detention in a mental hospital,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. “We call on authorities to immediately release Chugunov and to let him publish his paper.”
Authorities told Chugunov’s sister Anna Zuyeva, who has been denied visitation rights, that the charge against Chugunov has changed once again, this time to “threat to murder or cause serious health damage,” a criminal charge that carries up to two years in prison.
On February 6, doctors from the district mental hospital in the nearby village of Chyornaya Gryaz called Zuyeva to inform her that Chugunov was there. On February 23, he is scheduled to undergo psychiatric evaluation, Novaya Gazeta reported.”
Since issuing the alert, CPJ has informed PEN that it has learned that Chugunov has been “quarantined” and is held in isolation, leading to increased concern for his well-being.
International PEN is deeply concerned for the well being of Vladimir Chugunov, whom it believes may be held in violation of his right to freedom of expression. It joins calls for his release.
Recommended Actions
Letters may be sent to the Russian authorities:
- Expressing alarm at the arrest and incarceration in a psychiatric hospital of Vladimir Chugunov;
- Pointing to concerns that he appears to be detained for articles published in his newspaper, a direct attack on his right to freedom of expression;
- Calling for his immediate release as a matter of urgency.
Addresses:
Mr Vladimir Vladmirovich Putin
President of the Russian Federation
Kremlin
Moscow
Russia
Fax: +7 095 206 5173 / 230 2408
Email: president@gov.ru
Mr Vladimir Ustinov
Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation
Rossiyskaya Federatsiya 103793
Moskva K-31, Ul. B. Dimitrovka, d 15a
Prokuratura Rossiyskoy Federatsii
Generalnomu prokuroru Ustinovu V
Russian Federation
Fax: +7 095 292 88 48
Similar appeals should be send to the Russian Embassy in your own country.
(Russian Ambassador to the USA)
Ambassador Yuri V. Ushakov
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2650 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC
20007