Epress.am News from Armenia
During yesterday’s court session of political activist Shant Harutyunyan and his friends, a number of witnesses claimed to have seen police officers use violence against rally participants during a November 5, 2013 march. Harutyunyan and his friends are currently on trial for their actions preceding this march.
Witness Artavazd Aharonyan, who has a disability and who was at the scene of the incident on the day of the arrest of Harutyunyan and his friends (November 5), told the court that he twice interfered in police activities and was consequently taken into custody. Aharonyan has issues with his hands and was on his way home from the hospital when he passed through the site of the rally on Mashtots Ave.
He first interfered with police activity when he saw a police officer punch a female journalist and, by Aharonyan’s account, he attempted to defend the journalist, demanding the officer stop his actions.
The second instance took place near Freedom Square, where the witness saw a police officer hit a child. When the witness interfered and demanded the officer stop his action, he was later put in a police car and sent to a police station. During the journey to the station, Aharonyan’s blood pressure increased and, according to him, police officers responded by saying “It’s nothing, he won’t die”, he then was promised medical assistance at the Kentron (downtown) police division, from where he was later released.
Another witness, Vahagn Minasyan, a physicist by profession, indicated that he has an ideological affinity with the defendants. He said that his presence at Freedom Square was not by chance, and that he wished to defend people from police violence. He mentioned that he did not hear the defendants make a call to beat police, countering previous evidence from past sessions argued by the police officers named as victims in the case. Minasyan claimed to have seen police punching citizens present at the rally.
Another witness, Karen Harutyunyan, a computer programmer, was asked why he did not submit a pretrial testimony. He answered, mentioning that on November 5 he was taken to the police station, where an investigator accused him of violence against a representative of the authorities; therefore, he refused to testify. Later, it was revealed that no such accusation was made against Harutyunyan. The witness stated in court yesterday that he saw police beat citizens during the November 5 rally.
Of the interrogated witnesses was Laura Petrosyan, the mother of one of the defendants, Hayk Harutyunyan. In addition to hooliganism and using violence against a representative of the authorities, Harutyunyan is charged with another article, unlawful possession of psychotropic substances without the purpose of sale.
Harutyunyan’s mother emphasized that the substances were found in their medicine cabinet at home, not among her son’s personal belongings, and that they are considered regular medication. Speaking with media outlets earlier, she claimed that they purchased the medicine long ago with the intention to treat their dog but they didn’t use it and placed it in the medicine cabinet.
Video footage shows police taking citizens into custody during the march.