IS VIOLENT BEHAVIOUR RESULTED BY MENTAL DISORDER?

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03:41 pm | April 10, 2009

Politics

Pre-trial detainee Shant Harutyunyan is said to be subject to coercion
and psychological torture in prison. The press secretary of the
Justice Ministry’s Penitentiary Department refutes the information
saying it is unfounded.

The information was disseminated by the Committee for the Protection
of Political Prisoners. "Shant Harutyunyan has been isolated for no
reason. He is forbidden to see his relatives or talk to them on the
phone," said the Committee.

Presently, Shant is undergoing a forensic psychological examination
and encounters no restrictions concerning public utilities. As for
the Committee’s statement regarding Shant Harutyunyan it is a mere
slander, for "before being transferred to the Nubarashen clinic, Shant
Harutyunyan had met his spouse, sister, representatives of the Human
Rights Ombudsman, human rights organizations and parliamentarians,"
said the Department press secretary Arsen Babayan.

He added that the public had been informed of Shant Harutyunyan’s
isolation. On March 7 the Department issued a statement saying:
"As it was almost impossible to call Shant Harutyunyan to a
medical examination, and taking into consideration the fact that
the arrestee’s violent behaviour may have been resulted by mental
insanity, the medical comment said that that arrestee must be isolate
and round-the-clock control must be established over him."

Arsen Babayan considered necessary to remind that Shant Harutyunyan
had attempted to burn a pillow in the ward and made aggressive steps
which might be resulted by the mental disorder.

According to the Committee for the Protection of Political Prisoners,
"Shant Harutyunyan has been isolated in the Nubarashen clinic since
March 7 and even the relatives are denied access to him. We possess
no information on Shant’s health state."

Note that the Law on Mental Health Service says that people with
mental disorders have a right to carry on a correspondence, use a
telephone and receive visitors, etc.