Police Officers Deceiving Both Superiors and the Opposition: HAK Activist

One of the 7 Armenian National Congress (HAK) youth activists picked up by police on Aug. 9 and arrested the next day, Artak Karapetyan, who was later released on a bail of 3 million drams ($8,047 USD), speaking to Epress.am, told his side of the story about what happened, adding that he was called in to the investigation department on Sept. 7 to provide a testimony.

 

“I told them the true story. Outside the Khnko-Apor [Children’s] Library on Aug. 9, it wasn’t us that hit police, but rather they hit us. On Sept. 8, it became clear to me during a confrontation [a tête-à-tête organized by police and held at the police station] with the red berets [Police Patrol Service] what the problem was. I realized the reason for their lying, their giving false testimonies — it was their desire to conceal their unlawful actions. I understood at that time that their superiors probably didn’t know the truth because if they knew what happened, those two police officers, in my opinion, would have a problem,” he said.

 

Karapetyan then goes on to note that during the meeting with police, one of the “red berets” gave a completely false testimony, so the HAK activist refused to sit down to a face-to-face with the second officer, believing the second man to also give a false account of what happened between them. These two patrol police officers, Karapetyan notes, were the men who assaulted him and his fellow activists.

 

Recall, 4 of the 7 young opposition Armenian National Congress activists detained on Aug. 9 and arrested on Aug. 10 — Areg and Vahagn Gevorgyan, David Kiramijyan and Sahak Muradyan — were released on Aug. 12, while the court ruled on a two-month pre-trial detention for fellow activists Tigran Araqelyan, Artak Karapetyan and Sargis Gevorgyan. Karapetyan and Gevorgyan were later released, while Araqelyan is still in detention.

 

Areg Gevorgyan, Sahak Muradyan, David Kiramijyan, Sargis Gevorgyan and Vahagn Gevorgyan were all charged with hooliganism (RA Criminal Code Artice 258), while Tigran Araqelyan and Artak Karapetyan are charged with violence against a representative of the authorities (RA Criminal Code Article 316).

 

Note as well that on Aug. 26, the Armenian National Congress suspended its talks with ruling authorities, demanding Araqelyan’s release.