An American citizen detained in Russia and set to stand trial this month has been forcibly sent to a psychiatric hospital, Russian news agency Tass reported on Sunday. Joseph Teter, 46, a US citizen, was arrested in Moscow in August 2024. He was charged with assaulting a hotel employee and attempting to assault a police officer. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
A Moscow court has agreed to a request by doctors at a mental hospital to forcibly hospitalize Teter as a patient for mental illness. On March 15, a medical commission of doctors from Moscow’s Alekseeva Psychiatric Hospital found that Teter displayed “stress, impulsiveness, and delusional thoughts and attitudes,” including a sense of “persecution” and a “lack of critical attitude toward his state.”
It was not immediately clear when the court issued the decision to hospitalize Teter. According to Tas, Teter was sent to the Serbsky Center in Moscow for a mental evaluation. This forensic psychiatric center and hospital was notorious for perpetuating political dissidents with false diagnoses of psychological illnesses during the Soviet era.
Teter’s trial is set to begin in a Moscow court on April 14. He was released from custody on March 13. According to Tass, his lawyers have appealed not to admit him to the hospital, accusing Russia of isolating the defendant from society by placing him in a psychiatric hospital.
Russia has arrested scores of American citizens in recent years for everything from espionage and criticism of the Russian military to petty theft and family disputes. In a court hearing last September, Teter publicly stated that he wanted to renounce his US citizenship. He has said that he has been targeted by the CIA for years, demanding that embassy officials be removed.
During the hearing, Teter’s lawyer told the judge that he had come to Russia “with the aim of obtaining political asylum in connection with the persecution of relevant US authorities.” Amid the invasion of Ukraine and tensions with the West, President Vladimir Putin has made it easier for Western citizens to relocate to Russia on political grounds.
