Epress.am News from Armenia
Police Patrol Service of Armenia deputy regiment commander and witness Artur Ter-Poghosyan was examined in a Yerevan district court on Wednesday in the case against Armenian National Congress (HAK) youth activists Tigran Araqelyan (pictured, in white shirt), Sargis Gevorgyan, David Kiramijyan and Artak Karapetyan.
Recall, on Aug. 9, 2011, seven youth from the opposition bloc were detained after an incident with police near Yerevan’s Swan Lake. The next day they were arrested, while four — Areg and Vahagn Gevorgyan, David Kiramijyan and Sahak Muradyan — were released on Aug. 12 and then two more — Artak Karapetyan and Sargis Gevorgyan — were released later. The only one still detained is Tigran Araqelyan. The young activists say they were physically assaulted by police not only near Swan Lake, but also at the station.
The witness, Ter-Poghosyan, in his court testimony, said that during the altercation, Tigran Arakelyan told him, “Gather your army and get out of here!” According to the police officer, for about 15 minutes he tried to calm the youth down. He added that he tried to speak with Arakelyan, but the latter was gripping his shirt at the chest.
Asked by Araqelyan whether he was in the air when he was “hanging on his chest,” Ter-Poghosyan said he was, which resulted in laughter in the courtroom.
The witness also said that Tigran Araqelyan “came down by himself” because if he were to shake off Araqelyan, it would be viewed as an illegal act. Ter-Poghosyan also mentioned that he gave the order to detain the activists who were “more active” during the altercation.
The deputy police regiment commander also mentioned that the youth cursed at him and pushed and pulled the cops, but he was unable to say, apart from Tigran Araqelyan, who pushed or pulled whom.
One of the other accused, Artak Karapetyan, then asked the police representative why officers waited 15 minutes before detaining the youth, to which Ter-Poghosyan responded that they were trying to make the youth understand not to disrupt public order.
The witness also stated that officers used “martial technique” (ex. folding activists’ arms behind their back) in detaining the youth, to which Karapetyan asked whether pulling hair is considered a “martial technique”. Ter-Poghosyan said police did no such thing.
Tigran Araqelyan’s representative Vahe Grigoryan also asked about Shahen Harutyunyan, named as a victim in the case, who said that he filmed the incident with his phone, but now the phone is lost.
In response, Ter-Poghosyan said that finding out about this, he verbally reprimanded the officer who instead of helping his friends was “doing I don’t know what” with his phone.
According to Ter-Poghosyan, the SIM card in Shahen Harutyunyan’s phone was his own personal card and not one belonging to the police force. He also didn’t consider likely the attorney’s supposition that Harutyunyan could’ve lost the phone on purpose so that images of police officers’ illegal activities could also be lost.
The next court date is set for Feb. 27 at 12 pm.