Epress.am News from Armenia
Julieta Amarikyan, who was committed to one month of compulsory psychiatric treatment and was subject to torture has applied, with lawyer Tigran Hayrapetyan, to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). During a discussion today at Media Center Hayrapetyan said that “Amarikyan’s dignity was degraded and she was kept in difficult conditions for one month without her own personal bed, without an opportunity to shower during the summer month, and didn’t have basic hygiene supplies”.
Amarikyan was transferred to a psychiatric facility based on a court decision, which, however, was subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeals and was annulled in the Court of First Instance.
After the annulment, Amarikyan was recognized to be mentally healthy and was released from the psychiatric facility. Her lawyers applied to the Special Investigation Service (SIS) to initiate a criminal case with the demand of holding the judge, psychiatric facility staff, and police accountable for their actions.
“The psychiatric system can be used as a punitive tool, even in personal issues. Although we all remember that it has been used for political purposes, for example, against Shant Harutyunyan. It’s important that Amarikyan displayed the will to defend her rights. It’s not like it was a unique incident. People outright think that they have no way out,” said Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor office director Artur Sakunts during the discussion.
Recall, that Julieta Amarikyan claims that she was taken to the psychiatric facility because of a dispute with her brother regarding her apartment.