The case continues to receive broad coverage in the foreign press but the Russian health and political hierarchy continues to support the illegal detention of Larisa Arap. From an Aug 7 Chicago Tribune article:

Larisa Arap crossed a line with Murmansk authorities when she co-wrote an article called “Madhouse” that appeared in a Kasparov movement newspaper, alleging the mistreatment of children and the use of electro-shock therapy at area psychiatric clinics. She claimed she observed those abuses during a monthlong stay at the clinic in 2004, in which she received treatment for stress.

On July 5, Arap appeared at Dr. Marina Rekish’s office to pick up a medical certificate needed to renew her driver’s license. Russian driver’s license renewals require annual certificates from a doctor and a psychiatrist stating that the applicant is physically and mentally capable of driving.

Last year, Rekish issued Arap the certificate without hesitation, says Elena Vasilyeva, head of the Murmansk branch of Kasparov’s pro-democratic movement called Other Russia. This time, however, Rekish had a question as Arap sat in her office. “She asked, ‘Are you the author of that article?'” Vasilyeva said, relating what Arap told her.

When Arap replied “Yes,” Rekish asked her to wait outside. Moments later police dressed in camouflage arrived and hauled Arap away, holding her arms crossed behind her back as they walked her to an ambulance.

When Vasilyeva and Arap’s husband and daughter arrived at the psychiatric clinic in nearby Severomorsk to see her, the 49-year-old political activist couldn’t walk or speak. Her eyes were swollen and barely open. She had just spent 24 hours strapped to a gurney, unable to move as nurses pumped heavy sedatives into her, Vasilyeva says.

The family has been told that Arap is being held because she poses a danger to others, an assessment made by Rekish and accepted by a judge during a hearing July 18.

Rekish did not respond to a request for an interview.

Transfer to Apatity

Arap is now being held at a mental asylum in Apatity, 93 miles south of Murmansk. Vasilyeva and Arap’s husband met with the asylum’s chief doctor July 31.

“The first thing he said was, ‘Aren’t you afraid of publishing this kind of article?'” Vasilyeva said. “I looked into his eyes and said, ‘You have the right to sue us if you don’t like the article, but right now we’re talking about why Larisa is in an asylum,'” Vasilyeva said. “He made it clear the reason for her being at the asylum was the article.”

Vasilyeva and Arap’s relatives last saw her July 31 at the Apatity clinic. She appeared underweight and groggy.

“She ran to us and cried bitterly,” Taisiya Arap said. “She told me she’s dying in there.”

On August 3-4, well-known human rights activist Oksana Chelysheva traveled to Murmansk with a French television crew to investigate the case of Larisa Arap. They were not allowed to visit Larisa, who has now been transferred to a facility in Apatiti, 200km from Murmansk. They did speak with her by phone on the 3rd. Larisa said they had been giving her a “new medication” and that she was experiencing a “permanent headache.” The reporters were stonewalled by the officials at the clinic, who refused to provide any medical documents about Ms. Arap’s case. They refused to answer most questions or to say why she is still there against her family’s will and in the face of numerous legal violations. The doctors were, however, eager to contradict the critical article Larisa Arap wrote about the clinic’s practices soon before her detention. At one point, one of the doctors told the French reporters, “no matter who runs the country we will be needed.” During their entire visit, Chelysheva and the reporters were followed about by a KGB agent, a clear indication of how this has quickly become a political case if it wasn’t one to begin with.

Russia’s human rights ombudsman, Vladimir Lukin, has said they will send an independent expert to review the case on August 9. Larisa was abducted over one month ago and there have been plenty of opportunities to intervene and investigate. Instead, the authorities have sat on their hands or actively defended the criminal actions of the Murmansk doctors.

UPDATE JULY 30: Ms. Arap’s daughter Taisiya has been able to visit her mother in the hospital. She requested to see the diagnosis of her mother and was refused by doctors citing privileged information. The photo on the right was taken by her daughter with her cell phone at the clinic where her mother is being held. We will be following Ms. Arap’s story closely. [We understand that the American consul from St. Petersburg is heading to Murmansk to inquire.]

The use of psychiatric detention as a weapon of repression was quite popular in the days of the USSR. Dissidents regularly disappeared into prisons and hospitals under charges of mental instability. This time the interests are likely of a baser nature, as Kasparov puts it: “It could happen if you attack the interests of the local Gazprom, the local military base, the local medical mafia. Attacking the interests of local bureaucrats is a terrible risk, because they don’t stop at anything to get their own back.” This is not the first such incident of the Putin era and it is no surprise to see the revival of the old Soviet methods.

As is often the case after such incidents hit the news, Russian opposition websites have been attacked and made unavailable by massive DDOS assault. As of this writing, namarsh.ru and kasparov.ru are under attack.