Suffering from oligophrenia is not an unequivocal ground for being recognized as non compos mentis

YEREVAN, 5 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. Suffering from oligophrenia can’t be an unequivocal ground for being recognized as non compos mentis. Oligophrenia is a mental illness, but for any person suffering from an illness the subject of the investigation must be the issue of whether that person is compos mentis or non compos mentis. This is whatlawyer Vahagn Martirosyansaid in an interview with “Armenpress”.

Let us remind that Russian presses have disseminated information according to which Valery Permyakov, the Russian soldier who brutally murdered a family in Gyumri, has suffered from oligophrenia.“Not all oligophrenics can be recognized as non compos mentis. One oligophrenic can give such a reaction to a given situation that that might make him non compos mentis, but another oligophrenic can give another reaction,”the lawyer underscored. The lawyer said what he didn’t understand was how a person suffering from such an illness was recruited to the army and sent to military service in a foreign country.

In an interview with “Armenpress”,criminal justice expert, psychologist Arshak Gasparyanmentioned that the level of oligophrenia determines to what extent a person suffering from oligophrenia is compos mentis or non compos mentis.“The lowest level is stupidity, followed by imbecility in the middle and nonsense at the highest level. In the case of the highest level, the person can be considered non compos mentis, but I would say the person at that level would rarely take that action. However, I would like to emphasize the fact that this is not something to ask a psychologist because only psychiatric doctors can determine the issue of non compos mentis. Only a psychiatric doctor can specifically say whether the illness will lead to non compos mentis or not. However, it can be assumed that it can lead or not lead to non compos mentis, depending on the degree of the illness,”Gasparyan said in closing.