Vyacheslav Malakhov

Poet, author of lyrics and musician for the group "Pre-revolutionary Counsellor" (the participants describe the genre of the project as "literary steam-punk variety show"). In August 2023, he told "Team Against Torture" that he had been kept in a psychiatric hospital for three weeks. Before this, the activist was taken off a St Petersburg-Moscow train and taken to the Tosno police station in the Leningrad region. A day later the police took him to the hospital under the pretext of a medical examination. There the man was forced to sign a statement of agreement for hospitalization under threat of violence. After he protested, the hospital medical staff brought four men who tied him to the bed by his hands and feet, and a policeman pressed his knee on his chest. Malakhov spent several days in a bound position, during which time he was given periodic injections and forced to drink unknown pills. At the hospital he was given a psychological test, and the hospital superintendent demanded for the conclusion of this test to state that Malakhov has "suicidal tendencies and dementia", but the expert refused to do that. On January 31, 2024, the flat where Malakhov stayed during his visit to Moscow was searched in connection with the charges of discrediting the Russian Armed Forces, and he was detained. On February 2, the court sent him to custody. Before that, the defense asked the investigation team to request another measure of restraint from the court, but the investigation team refused, reasonining, in particular, that Malakhov is a native of Ukraine. On October 24, 2024, Malakhov was sentenced to two years in a general regime colony.