Court supports involuntary treatment

Ihar Pastnou's complaint against involuntary treatment at psychiatric hospital was dismissed by a court.

BelaPAN news agency learnt it from local human rights activist Leanid Svetik.

The complaint was heard by the Vitesbk regional court behind closed doors on September 12.

Pastnou asks to cancel the court decision of the Vitebsk district court and allow him to attend the hearing. Both demands were not fulfilled.

Svetik says representatives of NGOs, political parties and Pastnou's friends gathered on Thursday to work out further steps to defend the doctor. “Everyone made his proposals. We agreed to coordinate our actions and came to a conclusion that the admission of Pastnou to a psychiatric hospital was testing this method of punishing activists by the authorities. After Pasnou's case everything may happen,” the human rights defender said.

Ihar Pastnou was taken to a psychiatric hospital after his latest video appeal on the internet. He criticised the state of medicine in Vitebsk and involuntary treatment of alcohol addiction. He said he had been threatened with involuntary psychiatric treatment. Pastnou was taken to hospital from work on August 16.