Andrei Novikov was one of several journalists and opposition activists who have been committed to psychiatric hospitals in recent years -- reviving a punitive practice widely used in the Soviet era.
Novikov was working as an online reporter for Chechen Press, a news service connected with the Chechen separatist government, in December 2006 when he was convicted of sedition and inciting violence for two e-mail messages he sent to newspapers.
He was sentenced to three years in prison, but in January a psychiatric commission determined that he had "anti-social behavior" and on Feb. 14 ordered him committed to a hospital in Rybinsk, Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. Last month, another commission concluded that there was nothing wrong with Novikov, and a Rybinsk court ordered him released Thursday, it said. It was unclear whether he had been released; authorities at the Rybinsk hospital could not be reached for comment, and Novikov's relatives could not be immediately located.
In July, opposition activist Larisa Arap was ordered to a psychiatric clinic in the northern city of Murmansk. Supporters said it was punishment for her critical reporting. She was released six weeks later.
AP, MT
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