Epress.am News from Armenia
The US State Department on February 27 mentioned the case of Harutyun Sargsyan, accused of the murder of former Gyumri mayor Vardan Ghukasyan's son-in-law Karen Yesayan, in its 2013 Human Rights Report. Recall, a Gyumri court yesterday sentenced Harutyun to 15 years in prison.
The US State Department, in particular, draws attention to allegations of police torture:
"On September 13, media reported that a court of appeals ordered law enforcement bodies to investigate allegations that police tortured Harutyun Sargsyan, a suspect in the April 2012 high-profile killing of Karen Yesayan, the fiance of the daughter of the former mayor of Gyumri. According to Sargsyan’s father, Gyumri police, under the leadership of regional police chief Karen Babakekhyan, tortured his son to extort a confession, and the mistreatment continued after his transfer to the Yerevan police detention facility. Sargysyan’s father asserted that police beat Sargsyan so badly that his feet did not fit his shoes due to swelling, and he suffered multiple other injuries including a fractured bone above his ear. Although authorities did not record the alleged injuries in the detention facility, Sargsyan repeated these claims of abuse in court. One of the alleged abusers in Yerevan reportedly identified himself to his victim as the head of the General Department of Criminal Investigation, a position held at the time by [now Yerevan Police Chief] Ashot Karapetyan."
Photo credit: Asparez Journalists' Club