by prancing atop a billboard in the nude with what appeared to be a gun has avoided any jail time.
A judge in Perth on the West Coast of Australia has accepted post-traumatic stress from years in detention in Australia and mistreatment in Iran as an explanation for the actions of Sayeed Mehman, 38.
On July 17, Mehman climbed on top of a large billboard in downtown Perth, stripped naked and paraded up and down with a replica handgun.
Police locked down the area. Commuter trains on a line that passed by the billboard were halted. Traffic was detoured and normal travel in the downtown area disrupted. After a few hours, negotiators persuaded Mehman to drop the “gun” and come down.
In Perth Magistrates Court last Thursday, Mehman pleaded guilty to being armed in public in a way that caused fear.
Mehman’s lawyer, Belinda Lonsdale, told the court her client, a naturalized Australian citizen, was mentally ill but was not a danger to society.
“Clearly he didn’t intend to cause anybody any harm,” Lonsdale said. She said Mehman suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after spending four years in an Australian immigration detention center and suffering mistreatment earlier in Iran.
“He really hasn’t dealt with the trauma that he has been subjected to,” she said.
The court was told Mehman fled from Iran to Malaysia when he ran into trouble with authorities in his homeland.
In Malaysia, he met people smugglers who brought him to Australia illegally in 2000. “He had anticipated that Australia would be a country that would welcome him with open arms,” Lonsdale said.
She said he did not know he had to prove his refugee status and after spending time in detention decided he would rather return to Iran. However, while in Perth, a church organization welcomed him in 2004.
Lonsdale said Mehman had been suffering from nightmares and on the morning of the billboard incident had awoken from one about his time in detention. She said he drove to the beach where he consumed alcohol, before driving to the city and climbing the billboard.
Lonsdale said Mehman was “disturbed” and could not offer an explanation for his nudity. However, she said he was genuinely remorseful for the effect his actions had on the city and said he had spent some time in a mental institution since his arrest.
Chief Magistrate Steven Heath said, “This is without a question a serious offence, albeit the accused had no intention or ability to cause harm with a replica gun.”
A psychiatric report concluded that Mehman suffered from depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress from his treatment in Iran and as a refugee in Australia.
The report also found that Mehman had a “sense of hopelessness,” was prone to self-harm and had already considered suicide.
Mehman was sentenced to an 18-month “community based order,” an Australian legal term that is roughly equivalent to the American practice of a suspended sentence coupled with a requirement for community service or to undergo psychiatric treatment.
