Latest news with #JosephTater
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
US citizen leaves Russia after detention in psychiatric hospital
Russia has arrested several US citizens in recent years – bringing accusations from Washington of 'hostage-taking' for use in prisoner exchanges. (AP pic) MOSCOW : American Joseph Tater has left Russia after nearly a year in detention, including in a psychiatric hospital, state news agency TASS reported on Friday. Tater, 46, was arrested in Moscow in August and accused of abusing staff at a hotel, and later, attacking a police officer. In April, a court found him unfit for trial and sent him for 'forcible measures of a medical nature' – meaning compulsory psychiatric treatment. He had already been moved from pre-trial detention to a psychiatric ward after a medical commission said he showed 'tension, impulsiveness (and) delusional ideas and attitudes', TASS reported at the time. According to the Russian state news agency, Tater said at a court hearing in September that he wanted to renounce his US citizenship and that the CIA was targeting him. On Friday, TASS said Tater had been discharged and left the country. 'The American citizen Tater, who had been interned in a psychiatric hospital by court order, was authorised to leave a clinic in Moscow and has left the territory of the Russian Federation,' it reported, citing law enforcement. Russia has arrested several US citizens in recent years on charges ranging from espionage and criticising the Russian army to petty theft and family disputes – bringing accusations from Washington of 'hostage-taking' for use in prisoner exchanges. In April, US-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina was freed after being sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony for donating around US$50 to a pro-Ukraine charity. In return, Washington released Arthur Petrov, a Russian-German national accused of illegally exporting US-made electronics to manufacturers supplying the Russian military.
CBS News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Russian state media says American Joseph Tater out of country after arrest, psychiatric hospitalization
Joseph Tater, a U.S. citizen arrested in Russia in August 2024 after an apparent tussle with hotel staff and then forcibly admitted to a psychiatric hospital in April this year, without ever standing trial, has left Russia, according to the country's state-run TASS news agency. TASS said Tater, 46, was discharged from a psychiatric facility in Moscow, where he spent over a month. In April, TASS reported that Tater had been examined by doctors and diagnosed with a mental disorder, and then admitted for compulsory psychiatric treatment. Tater was accused by Russian authorities of abusing hotel staff in Moscow upon his initial arrest. Officials later said he was also being investigated on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, a charge that could have seen him face up to five years in prison. Tater claimed during a court hearing that he was being persecuted by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and was seeking political asylum in Russia. In this photo released by Meshchansky District Court press service on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, U.S. citizen Joseph Tater stands in a courtroom facing criminal assault charges after allegedly attacking a police officer in a Moscow hotel. Meshchansky District Court Press Service via AP Russia imprisoned several Americans as tensions with Washington soared in recent years. Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and teacher Marc Fogel were all designated wrongfully detained by the U.S. government, along with dual U.S.-Russian national Ksenia Karelina. All four of those Americans have been freed in prisoner swaps with Moscow. Among the U.S. nationals still jailed in Russia is U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, whose three-year, nine-month prison sentence for robbing and threatening his Russian girlfriend was reduced in April by seven months. Robert Gilman, 72, is currently serving a 3 1/2-year sentence in Russia for assaulting a police officer, and Travis Leake, a musician convicted on drug charges, was sentenced to 13 years in prison last summer. A Russian court sentenced another 72-year-old American, Stephen Hubbard, to nearly seven years in prison in October for fighting alongside Ukraine's military. TASS quoted Tater's lawyer, Polina Vlasyuk, as saying she had no information regarding his whereabouts or circumstances. contributed to this report.
Arab News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
US citizen Joseph Tater leaves Russia after detention and psychiatric treatment, TASS says
MOSCOW: US citizen Joseph Tater, who was detained in Moscow last August and later sent for compulsory psychiatric treatment, has left Russia, the state news agency TASS said on Friday. Tater, who according to a Kremlin source last month was one of nine Americans being held in Russia that Washington wanted returned in a prisoner exchange, was sentenced to 15 days in jail last August for 'petty hooliganism' after being accused of abusing staff at a Moscow hotel, something he denied. Russian state news agencies later said he was also being investigated on a more serious charge of assaulting a police officer, which carries up to five years in prison. But on April 6 a court ordered Tater be removed from pre-trial detention, saying he was not criminally responsible for his actions after doctors diagnosed him with a mental disorder, according to state media. TASS reported on Friday that Tater had been discharged from the psychiatric clinic where he was being treated. It cited unnamed medical sources as saying that the clinic had no grounds to keep him there and had let him leave for outpatient treatment. TASS cited a law enforcement source as saying Tater's current whereabouts were unknown, but that he had left Russia.
Al Arabiya
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
US citizen Joseph Tater leaves Russia after detention and psychiatric treatment: Report
US citizen Joseph Tater, who was detained in Moscow last August and later sent for compulsory psychiatric treatment, has left Russia, the state news agency TASS said on Friday. Tater, who according to a Kremlin source last month was one of nine Americans being held in Russia that Washington wanted returned in a prisoner exchange, was sentenced to 15 days in jail last August for 'petty hooliganism' after being accused of abusing staff at a Moscow hotel, something he denied. Russian state news agencies later said he was also being investigated on a more serious charge of assaulting a police officer, which carries up to five years in prison. But on April 6 a court ordered Tater be removed from pre-trial detention, saying he was not criminally responsible for his actions after doctors diagnosed him with a mental disorder, according to state media. TASS reported on Friday that Tater had been discharged from the psychiatric clinic where he was being treated. It cited unnamed medical sources as saying that the clinic had no grounds to keep him there and had let him leave for outpatient treatment. TASS cited a law enforcement source as saying Tater's current whereabouts were unknown, but that he had left Russia.
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Straits Times
US citizen Joseph Tater leaves Russia after detention and psychiatric treatment, TASS says
MOSCOW - U.S. citizen Joseph Tater, who was detained in Moscow last August and later sent for compulsory psychiatric treatment, has left Russia, the state news agency TASS said on Friday. Tater, who according to a Kremlin source last month was one of nine Americans being held in Russia that Washington wanted returned in a prisoner exchange, was sentenced to 15 days in jail last August for "petty hooliganism" after being accused of abusing staff at a Moscow hotel, something he denied. Russian state news agencies later said he was also being investigated on a more serious charge of assaulting a police officer, which carries up to five years in prison. But on April 6 a court ordered Tater be removed from pre-trial detention, saying he was not criminally responsible for his actions after doctors diagnosed him with a mental disorder, according to state media. TASS reported on Friday that Tater had been discharged from the psychiatric clinic where he was being treated. It cited unnamed medical sources as saying that the clinic had no grounds to keep him there and had let him leave for outpatient treatment. TASS cited a law enforcement source as saying Tater's current whereabouts were unknown, but that he had left Russia. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
