Mother of Man Accused of Murder Claims Son was Beaten by Police

The mother of Karen Kungortsev, who is accused of murdering Yerevan resident, David Hovakimyan, 15 (who had gone to Vanadzor to participate in a competition), insists that her son is innocent. In an interview with eTV, Kungortsev’s mother, Anahit Harutyunyan, claimed her son was beaten by police while under police custody and forced to confess to the crime. Note, Kungortsev was recently released under the general amnesty.

According to Harutyunyan, her son was accused of the crime only because on the day of the incident, Oct. 12, he was walking near Vanadzor Railways park and was caught on CCTV. The boys from Yerevan who had gone to Vanadzor to participate in the competition had an argument with the boys from the local team in that same park, where, as a result of the altercation, Hovakimyan was stabbed.

Kongortsev was arrested the same day, from his place of work, held for 3 days at the police station, and then sent to prison. According to his mother, she saw her son in prison yesterday and noticed that he was limping. He told her that several police officers beat him.

Kongortsev gave his mother a letter, asking her to make it public. In the letter he says that the RA Police program Hertapah Mas on Armenia TV showed his photo and said that he admitted his guilt; meanwhile, that’s not true. He also wrote that he’s declaring an indefinite hungerstrike. He was joined by fellow inmate Mihran Melqonyan.