A shaman in Russia has called President Vladimir Putin a demon - and has been arrested in Siberia. According to media reports, masked police stormed the tent of Alexander Gabyshev on Thursday near Ulan-Ude on Lake Baikal and took him away without explanation.
Originally, Gabyshev claims to have traveled several thousand kilometers through Siberia to Moscow "to drive Putin out of Russia." Several media reported that the man wanted to drive the politician out of the devil.
On this trip Gabyshev also organized rallies. In front of hundreds of people, he is said to have called: "Putin is not a human, but a demon." The politician must be banished from the Kremlin. He wanted to try this with protests, but do not be shy to use magic, said the shaman accordingly.
"The answer of the authorities is grotesque"
Human rights activists criticized the arrest. "The action of the shaman may be eccentric, but the response of the Russian authorities is grotesque," said Amnesty International's Russia chief Natalia Svjagina. "This is another act of brutal suppression of human rights."
The Russian Ministry of the Interior, on the other hand, stated in a statement that the man had been wanted for a completely different crime in his native Yakutia. Details did not call the authority however.
Shamanism is widespread in Russia, especially in Siberia. With centuries-old rites, the shamans ask important events for the help of gods, spirits, and ancestors.