On March 8, 1995, a convict of Nubarashen penitentiary Samvel Shahgeldyan, born in 1959, had his veins cut, and, on March 7, he swallowed a few needles. Today, he contacted us from the prison and told that he had swallowed a razor blade. The demand is one: to force the head of Nubarashen penitentiary to take him to a civilian hospital, to operate on him, to remove the piercing tools from his body.
However, the penitentiary administration refuses to comply with the convict’s request. To our question why he is not being taken for surgery, the press officer of the penitentiary Nona Navikyan said that we should apply to the Penitentiary Medicine Center.
When a person dies at your institution, do not you call, say he is dying, let’s get medical help? “Of course, we cadoll,” the spokeswoman told us, “but whether it is to be operated or not is up to the doctors to decide.” Now, if a person is mentally ill, has swallowed razors and needles, does he not need surgery? What kind of doctors are you of you do not take him for surgery? “Ask the Penitentiary Medicine Center,” the representative of the penitentiary urged again.
A few days ago, the convict informed Forrighst.am that he had swallowed 40 needles, and the penitentiary service, in response to our inquiry, informed that only 4 needles were found during an X-ray examination of Shahgaldyan’s abdomen.
The reason for the self-harm was that the medical unit of the prison did not provide Shahmedyan with simple medicine Dimedrol.
We had applied to the penitentiary service, inquiring clarification on the case. The penitentiary clarified that Samvel Shahgeldyan refused medical assistance.
His family provided the conclusion of the March 12 X-ray examination at the Erebuni Medical Center, according to which three 2.5 և 1.85 և 1.6 cm long “flat foreign bodies” were found in Shahgeldyan’s stomach.
The convict was not operated on. He is not well.
Syuzan Simonyan