Patient Released: Court Dismissed Psychiatric Clinic Doctor’s Claim

Juleta Amarikyan, who was taken to Avan Psychiatric Clinic against her will, will no longer remain in the clinic for compulsory psychiatric treatment, according to a ruling by the Court of First Instance of Avan and Nor-Nork Administrative Districts of Yerevan, considering Avan Psychiatric Clinic Director Areg Hakobyan's application, reports the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office.

Recall, Hakobyan had taken the matter to court, asking for a court order to commit Amarikyan to compulsory psychiatric treatment; however, Amarikyan insisted she doesn't have mental health problems and she was taken to the psychiatric facility because of a dispute with her brother regarding her apartment. 

At the last court session, Amarikyan's representative, Tigran Hayrapetyan, had  objected to Hakobyan's application for a court order, saying that it doesn't meet the requirements of the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, and the court shouldn't have begun proceedings. In addition, the reasons for the involuntary commitment should've been noted in the application. 

The attorney also pointed to shortcomings in the psychiatric commission's conclusion. For instance, Article 16 Section 1 Paragraph 6 of the RA Constitution states that a mentally ill patient can be involuntarily committed if he or she poses a threat to the public, but there was no mention in the psychiatric commission's conclusion of what threat Amarikyan posed and to whom, the specific illness from which she suffers, the entire history of her illness, and a number of other details. 

According to Amarikyan, she was examined by two doctors, but the conclusion is signed by four individuals. Her representative also showed the court proof of examinations his client underwent at Armenia Republican Medical Center after she was discharged from the psychiatric facility, wherein the neurologist there diagnosed Amarikyan to be of sound mind and did not find any acute pathologies in the patient. 

Thus, the attorney, Tigran Hayrapetyan, declared that the application is clearly unfounded, as his client doesn't have mental health problems and taking her to the psychiatric clinic was clearly unlawful.