MOSCOW, April 23 (Itar-Tass) — The man detained as he was attacking a Taganka Court judge will undergo a psychiatric expert examination, spokeswoman for the Investigative Committee department for Moscow Viktoria Tsyplyonkova told Itar-Tass on Monday.
"The investigators will check detainee Andrei Borodin for sanity," Tsyplyonkova said.
A court will decide on whether the attacker should be placed in custody starting Monday.
The investigator said the suspect had broken into the office of a federal judge at the Taganka court and demanded the release of activists of the Pussy Riot punk group.
The attacker, Andrei Borodin, tried to hit her with an ax, but the judge fought him and called for help.
"Bailiffs came in time to stop Borodin. He is being questioned," SK spokesman Vladimir Markin said earlier.
According to preliminary reports, the man was not in a state of alcoholic intoxication at the time of the attack.
Criminal proceedings were opened under Article 295, of Russia’s Criminal Code /"attempted murder of person administering justice"/.
The suspect, if found guilty, may be jailed from 12 years to life.
The Pussy Riot case caused a public stir. At present, three Pussy Riot activists are in custody.
On February 21, five masked young women in brightly colored clothes appeared in the Christ the Savior Church, ran onto the ambo before the altar and performed an indecent song for several minutes using the amplifiers they had brought along. They also shouted insults against the clergy and believers, as well as against the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill.
They ignored the rebukes by the church attendants and believers, and fled as guards tried to detain them.
Police opened a criminal case under Article 21, Part 2 of Russia’s Criminal Code /hooliganism/ which envisions a penalty of up to seven years.
The young women denied their involvement in the church prank.
Pussy Riot later claimed responsibility for the action. The group is notorious for similar actions such as the one in Red Square. The punk group placed on Live Journal a video report of the church prank.
Earlier, investigators said the arrested Pussy Riot activists should stay in custody as they might come under attacks.
"It is mentioned in the case materials that the suspects must remain under arrest as they might become the target of criminal encroachment," Mark Fegin, a lawyer of one of the suspects, said at a hearing at the Taganka court last Thursday.