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State media report that a 46-year-old man arrested in Moscow for allegedly assaulting a police officer has been diagnosed with a mental disorder.
A U.S. citizen scheduled to stand trial in Russia next week has been forcibly admitted to a psychiatric hospital after a court approved a request from doctors, according to Russian state media.
Joseph Tater, 46, was arrested in Moscow in August 2024 on charges of assaulting a police officer following an altercation with hotel staff. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
On March 15, a medical commission from Moscow’s Alexeyeva Psychiatric Hospital concluded that Tater exhibited symptoms such as “tension, impulsiveness, delusional ideas and attitudes,” including feelings of “persecution” and a “lack of critical awareness of his condition.”
State-run TASS news agency reported on Sunday that a Moscow court had approved a request from psychiatrists for Tater to undergo involuntary hospitalization due to mental illness, citing court documents. The exact date of the court’s decision was not immediately clear.
Tater’s trial is set to begin on April 14. According to TASS, his case could be dismissed if the Meshchansky District Court accepts the psychiatric diagnosis. This could result in court-ordered treatment instead of a trial.
As part of the investigation, Tater was sent to Moscow’s Serbsky Center for inpatient psychiatric evaluation. The institution was notoriously used during the Soviet era to falsely diagnose political dissidents with mental illnesses.
Tater’s lawyer has appealed against his hospitalization, accusing Russian authorities of attempting to “isolate the defendant from society by placing him in a psychiatric hospital.” The defense also claimed that Tater had traveled to Russia seeking political asylum due to alleged persecution by U.S. authorities.
Prisoner Swaps
In recent years, Russian authorities have arrested several U.S. citizens on charges ranging from espionage and criticizing the Russian military to petty theft and family disputes.
Last year, Russia released Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan as part of a major prisoner swap with the U.S. and other Western nations. The deal freed 16 individuals from Russia, including five Germans and seven Russian political prisoners.
In 2022, basketball star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison in a swap for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. Griner had been arrested at a Russian airport earlier that year after cannabis-derived oil cartridges were found in her luggage. She pleaded guilty to drug possession and smuggling charges and was sentenced to nine years in prison, claiming it was an “honest mistake.”
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