Alexander Gabyshev
Especially sophisticated punishment — punitive psychiatry
Story
He is a civil activist and respected shaman who advocated for his people to live in harmony with nature and the surrounding world, and to cease predatory exploitation of Yakutian resources for the benefit of the metropolis. In 2019, he organized an extraordinarily resonant protest action against Putin — a walking march from Yakutsk to Moscow. Authorities placed him in a psychiatric hospital. Punitive psychiatry has been a sophisticated punishment for dissenters since the times of the USSR. Dissidents are isolated and subjected to medical torture.
Write a letter
A letter is the simplest way to support a person in prison. It is read not only by the addressee: the administration sees that the person is remembered, and that protects.
- How to send By ordinary mail to the colony’s address or through the “FSIN-pismo” service (fsin-pismo.ru): it is paid but faster, and a reply can be prepaid. From abroad the easiest way is through projects supporting political prisoners, such as OVD-Info: they will tell you how to forward a letter.
- What to write about About yourself and what is happening around you: books, films, nature, life in your city. You can enclose a postcard or a photo. Write in Russian — letters in other languages are delayed or not delivered.
- What not to write about The case, the court and the investigation, politics and the war, other detainees. Letters are censored: such letters are simply not delivered and may do harm. Do not promise what you cannot deliver.
- How long to wait A letter takes from two weeks to two months. A reply does not always come — that does not mean the letter was not delivered.
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