Epress.am News from Armenia
Former Chief of the Police Criminal Investigation Unit Artur Gevorgyan for three months attempted to convince detainee Hrachya Gevorgyan not to protest. Then the former police chief decided to make threats to ensure the accused ceases his fight against the illegality of the criminal case against him. This was conveyed to Helsinki Association for Human Rights observer Arman Veziryan by Hrachya Gevorgyan, who is currently in the Hospital for Convicts, where he was taken after he swallowed a needle at Nubarashen Penitentiary as an act of protest.
Hrachya Gevorgyan confessed that he's saying this only now, months after the incident, because he was moved to the prisoners' hospital, hoping that no one will come after him seeking revenge.
"For three consecutive months, Artur Gevorgyan tried over the phone to convince me, then one day they told me my uncle had come to see him, but it turned out it was Gevorgyan. He spoke to me in a private room, saying don't do it so that we make you understand using other methods," Hrachya Gevorgyan told Veziryan.
The prisoner also informed employees of the RA Human Rights Defender's Office, who came to visit him at the prisoners' hospital, about the conversation between him and Artur Gevorgyan. The accused was informed that the RA Human Rights Defender's Office launched proceedings based on his claims.
For a long time, Gevorgyan asked the nail he had swallowed to protest the actions of the investigative team to be removed from his stomach surgically; however, the penitentiary management ignored his requests.
On April 14, the prisoner once again appealed to the penitentiary management, saying if he is refused once again, he will swallow a needle, which he did on April 16, eventually being taken to hospital.
Recall, according to the indictment, Hrachya Gevorgyan and Garik Harutyunyan held hostage Hrachya Gevorgyan's wife, Naira Harutyunyan, and her son, a minor, asking for ransom from Naira's father. After they received the money, they released Naira and her son.