Epress.am News from Armenia
One of the defendants in the scandalous "gang case," Artur Manukyan, said in court yesterday that he was tortured in police custody. Manukyan claims that he was unable to make any phone calls and speak with his family for 3 days after he was arrested; instead, he was lying on the floor, beaten up, with handcuffs on his hands.
The accused claims he was beaten also while in the detention facility, his legs tied and he, hung upside down.
"The cleaning lady was mopping the floors; they took the dirty bucket [from her] and poured the dirty water on my head, and they were beating me on the head with a truncheon. From where to begin?
"Five, six days later I was taken to court, issued an arrest warrant, then again taken to the detention facility. Then, on September 30, if I'm not mistaken, they took me to NSS [National Security Service], where the doctor wouldn't see me because of my serious health condition. I even heard him say, you've brought the guy here, what, to dump him on us? I was again taken to the detention facility, then 4 days later again brought to NSS. For one year, I was deprived of calling and seeing my relatives," he said.
The defendant said only one of the affidavits he wrote himself — on September 25, 2011. There is another affidavit attributed to him (dated September 22), but Manukyan says he was arrested on September 23, so he couldn't have written it himself.
Recall, in this case, 5 people are arrested and accused of committing burglary in September 2011. The accused (and their lawyers) claim that they are being tortured and testimony obtained under such conditions shouldn't be admitted in court and become grounds for prosecution.
One of the accused, Arman Dallakyan, 41, died on September 7, 2013, in the hospital for prisoners. His mother told Epress.am that not only was her son beaten, but also his parents weren't allowed to take him his medication.