«إرادة الرياض»: 504 تقارير طبية حددت المسؤولية الجنائية والخطورة للموقوفين في 2024

The Erada and Mental Health Complex in Riyadh, a member of the Riyadh Health Cluster, revealed that the Forensic Psychiatry Department provided (7,774) treatment and evaluation services in outpatient clinics during 2024 for detainees in prisons and reformatories related to criminal cases, who were suffering from mental and addiction disorders.

Dr. Abdulilah Khadr Al-Asimi, the Assistant Executive Director of Medical Services at the Erada and Mental Health Complex in Riyadh, explained that these cases included (2,442) cases (men and women) who were served in person during their detention period, with the number of addiction cases - men being (1,709), while the number of psychological cases - men was (457), and the number of female cases was (267).

The number of beneficiaries from the "Visiting Doctor" service reached 5,332 cases, who received services in collaboration with the General Directorate of Prisons in the Riyadh region.

The forensic psychiatric medical committee in the department conducted specialized and accurate assessments for cases referred from the judiciary and security agencies with the aim of issuing medical reports that determine their criminal responsibility, competency, and level of danger. The cases referred from these entities were admitted to the prison unit and the drug control unit affiliated with the department within the complex, with the total number last year being (230) cases, for which (1,154) specialized assessments were conducted, resulting in (504) reports to determine their criminal responsibility, competency, and danger level, based on requests from security and judicial authorities, according to the Mental Health Care System, the Criminal Procedure System, and the Sharia Litigation System.

Dr. Al-Asimi pointed out that the Forensic Psychiatry Department at the Erada Complex in Riyadh is considered one of the important and rare sub-departments in the field of psychiatry. It serves the specialty of forensic psychiatry with all its interventions and encompasses the relationship between law, its enforcement agencies, and psychiatry more broadly. It applies scientific expertise and clinical consultations in legal contexts involving civil, criminal, reformative, regulatory, or legislative issues for the relevant authorities or detainees in security agencies.

He explained that the staff in the department provides forensic psychiatric services as a specialty, through determining criminal responsibility, competency to stand trial, assessing criminal risk factors, and treating them before reintegration into society. They also respond to requests from security and judicial authorities, provide treatment for detainees in prisons and reformatories, monitor their conditions, evaluate them, dispense necessary medications, and offer other psychological interventions. The department remains the only one of its kind in the Riyadh region.

The Assistant Executive Director of Medical Services noted that the Erada Complex is ready to collaborate in the fields of psychiatric services and addiction treatment for all beneficiary categories according to the directives of the Ministry of Health and the Riyadh Health Cluster, always striving for development and improvement to achieve the best quality in general and specialized mental health medical fields with the relevant entities.