Fames Soviet dissident Bukovsky dies at 76

Vladimir Bukovsky, a prominent Soviet-era dissident who became internationally known for exposing Soviet abuse of psychiatry, has died. He was 76.

Bukovsky died of cardiac arrest after a period of ill-health in Cambridge, England, where had settled after being deported from the Soviet Union in 1976, according to the Bukovsky Center volunteer organization.

Bukovsky spent a total of 12 years in Soviet prisons or psychiatric hospitals for his fierce criticism of the Communist government, becoming a symbol of Soviet persecution of dissent.

In 1971, Bukovsky smuggled out materials documenting the Soviet use of psychiatry for punishing dissenters. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and labor camp.

Soviet authorities agreed to trade him in 1976 for imprisoned Chilean Communist Party leader Luis Corvalan.