It’s an old tactic reminiscent of Soviet Union days, and still sometimes utilized in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. It involves sending people you want to dispose of indefinitely to a psychiatric institution rather than prison. Prison sentences have specific end dates; compulsive psychiatric treatment does not.

And Belarusian presumptive president Aleksandr Lukashanko sees no reason it can’t work for him as well. According to some human rights advocates and physicians, at least 22 people recognized as political prisoners in Belarus are presently undergoing compulsory psychiatric treatment outside the conventional prison system.

Like so many of the political prisoners in Russia, the accusations against them include insulting government officials, aiding activities deemed extremist by the authorities, removing state flags, and committing alleged terrorism-related offenses. [RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, November 1, 2026.]

In Belarus, a psychiatric examination can be ordered by a police officer, an investigator, a prosecutor, or a judge. The doctors conduct the examinations, but do not decide the cases; that is up to a judge. Under the law, each patient is to receive a review at least every six months; but even if the doctors conclude that a patient is ready for release, that recommendation can be overruled by the government’s security apparatus.

RFE/RL’s report revealed the names of seven people currently being held as psychiatric patients, who in fact are political prisoners. They are:

> Maria Uspenskaya: Her husband was killed in 2021 by KGB officers in a shoot-out in their apartment in Minsk. Maria was detained the same day, and is charged with complicity in the killing of a KGB officer.

> Neli Alfyorava: Charged with insulting a government official while working as an election observer, she was convicted and sent for “treatment” in 2024.

> Natallya Manyla: For helping political prisoners, she was charged with assisting extremist activities.

> Natallya Mikulich: Charged with insulting a government official, inciting social hostility, and libel.

> Asker Alakhverdziyev: Ordered into treatment with enhanced supervision in 2024 for allegedly preparing to participate in military activities.

> Ivan Miksha: At 21 years of age, was charged with removing Belarusian state flags from public buildings.

> Danila Zharyn: An accusation of a terrorist attack on an Interior Ministry institute resulted in treatment with enhanced supervision.

If any of these individuals are actually guilty of the charges against them, guilty verdicts should have resulted in prison sentences for a specific length of time — not consignment to the hell of a psychiatric institution, receiving God-knows-what sort of “treatment,” for an indefinite period of time . . . potentially even for life.

So today, we sadly add seven names to our list of political hostages — not in Russia, but in Putin’s vassal state of Belarus.

*. *. *

And, as always on Sunday, we again pay tribute to those political hostages already known and awaiting release:

Prisoners of War:

The 20,000+ Kidnapped Ukrainian Children
The People of Ukraine

Immigrant Detainees in Russia:

Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Endangered Exiles:

Pavel “Pasha” Talankin
Mikita Losik
Yulia Navalnaya
Oleg Orlov
Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents

Political Prisoners:

In Afghanistan:

Mahmoud Habibi (Afghan-American)
Paul Overby (American, missing since 2018)

In Azerbaijan:

The “Azerbaijan 7”:
– Farid Mehralizada
– Ulvi Hasanli
– Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqiai)
– Mahammad Kekalov
– Hafiz Babali
– Nargiz Absalamova
– Elnara Gasimova

In Belarus:

Asker Alakhverdziyev
Neli Alfyorava
Andrei Chapiuk
Uladzimir Labkovich
Natallya Manyla
Ivan Miksha
Natallya Mikuich
Andrzej Poczobut
Marfa Rabkova
Valiantsin Stafanovic
Maria Uspenskaya
Danila Zharyn
Yuras Zyankovich

In Georgia:

Mzia Amaglobeli

In Russia:

The “Crimea 8”:
– Oleg Antipov
– Artyom Azatyan
– Georgy Azatyan
– Aleksandr Bylin
– Roman Solomko
– Artur Terchanyan
– Dmitry Tyazhelykh
– Vladimir Zloba

James Scott Rhys Anderson (British)
Aleksandr Andreyev
Aleksandr Antonov (Russian/Ukrainian/American)
David Barnes (American)
Yevgenia Berkovich
Gordon Black (American)
Hayden Davies (British)
Yury Dmitriyev
Anastasia Dyudyaeva
Antonina Favorskaya
Konstantin Gabov
Olga Jezler (Russian/American)
Sergey Karelin
Andre Khachaturian (Armenian/American)
Timur Kishukov
Vadim Kobzev
Darya Kozyreva
Artyom Kriger
Aleksandr Kynev
Michael Travis Leake (American)
Aleksei Liptser
Svitlana Loi (in Ukraine)
Mikhail Loshchinin
“Madame Z” (in Ukraine)
Grigory Melkonyants
Dmitry Morozov
Boris Nadezhdin
Nika Novak
Svetlana Petriichuk
Leonid Pshenychnov (in Russian-occupied Crimea)
Ilya Remeslo
Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler)
Lev Schlossberg
Daniel Schneider
Sofiane Sehili (French)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Grigory Skvortsov
Eugene Spector (American)
Joseph Tater (American, disappeared)
Karina Tsurkan
Arseniy Turbinin (age 18)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland (American)
Chuck Zimmerman

You have not been, and will not be, forgotten. Stay strong.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/8/26