Thursday, July 27, 2006

Russia Releases European Psychiatrist Wanted for Sexual Abuse

As Reported by RIA Novosti, via Moscow News

Psychiatrist Dr. Jean Andres Hoareau has been released from custody in Moscow, his lawyer told RIA Novosti. He was earlier arrested by Interpol on sexual abuse charges, but was set free by the Prosecutor’s Office.

“The Prosecutor General’s Office has refused to extradite Hoareau to France,” defense lawyer Igor Trunov said.

He said the decision had been taken because Hoareau was never officially declared missing, and because under Russian law, the statute of limitation had expired.

In May 2005, a French court sentenced Dr. Jean Andres Hoareau, a specialist in forensic psychiatry and sexual disorders and deputy chairman of the Association of European Psychiatrists, to 15 years in jail for raping a client while she was under hypnosis. The verdict was passed in Hoareau’s absence.

“My client has been detained by the international department of Interpol, which acted on the decision of the French court,” Igor Trunov said, adding that Hoareau was being kept in a detention center for foreigners.

Trunov said the detention of his client in Moscow was “politically motivated.”

He said Hoareau, also the founder of the European Center for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Moscow, had been living in the Russian capital for 15 years. He also said his client was married with three children.

“We are going to appeal the detention decision, most likely with the Moscow City Court,” Trunov said.

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