Epress.am News from Armenia
Artak Karapetyan, an inmate at Artik penitentiary who sewed his mouth shut on Mar. 6 and a week later removed the seams but continued his hunger strike, attempted to harm himself. He now feels fine, however, and is awaiting for his day in court on Apr. 26, his attorney, Tamara Yayloyan, informed Epress.am today.
“Artak swallowed something — most likely it was a piece of metal or a domino piece — as a result of which the court date, which was supposed to happen on Mar. 13, was postponed. The other court date, which was set for Mar. 26, was postponed because one or two days before the session Judge Edik Manukyan’s wife died,” said Yayloyan, adding that immediately after the incident Artak was taken to get an ultrasound, though nothing was found. The attorney believes that most likely what he swallowed came out before the ultrasound.
“In any case, he was under doctors’ supervision,” she said.
According to Yayloyan, the prisoner feels fine now and is ready to participate in the court session.
“We have to present a motion, and he has to participate in the discussion of the motion. I met with Artak today, and he wasn’t complaining about his health,” she said.
Recall, Artak Karapetyan is accused of willful murder, though his attorney insists what her client is guilty of is hooliganism, not murder. According to the charges, Artak cursed at and attacked Dr. Ashot Grigoryan, 65, who responded to an emergency call to help his father, as a result of which the doctor died. At the last court session, the attorney motioned for the body to be disinterred and another autopsy performed, which the court refused. The defense insists that the disinterment and subsequent autopsy could determine that the doctor didn’t die from Artak’s blows.
According to his attorney, Artak sewed his mouth shut as a form of protest, since he is extremely discouraged over the possibility of spending life in prison.
Earlier, Yayloyan informed Epress.am that she mad a motion to the investigative body to determine whether Dr. Grigoryan was receiving treatment in a drug clinic. To the investigation body’s queries, the drug clinic in question affirmed that Dr. Grigoryan was suffering from alcoholism and received appropriate treatment. This fact, however, wasn’t conveyed to the medical examiners, which also displeased the defense.