(Berlin, May 28, 2026) – Kazakhstan authorities on May 25, 2026, forcibly transferred a defrocked Russian Orthodox priest, Yakov Vorontsov, to a psychiatric facility outside Almaty, Human Rights Watch said today. A Kazakhstan court on May 18 had ordered his transfer there from pretrial detention, where he had been held since February on dubious drug-related criminal charges.  “Kazakhstan’s record of politically motivated prosecution of critics, activists, and others engaged in peaceful expression of critical views is well-documented,” said Mihra Rittmann , senior Central Asia advisor at Human Rights Watch. “But Kazakhstan also has a growing and troubling record of using psychiatric detention as another abusive repression tactic.” Vorontsov’s arrest and detention follow years of pressure linked to his opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine and independent religious activities. He has no documented history of either substance use disorder or psychosocial disability.…