Epress.am News from Armenia
Many violations have occurred during the preliminary investigation and trial of the murder of 16-year old Tigran Hayrapetyan who died during a fight on April 9, 2014, while, according to human rights defender Mikayel Danielyan, a false accusation has been placed on a person who did not murder Hayrapetyan. Mikayel Danielyan, chairman of the human rights defense organization “Helsinki Association,” spoke to journalists about the latter case.
The human rights defender said that a murder charge was intentionally placed on juvenile Hayk Aghamalyan, which would potentially result in an 8-10 year prison sentence, while there is no evidence against him, even possession of a knife. “I asked the prosecutor (Hakob Melkonyan), how could you charge him if there is no possession of a knife. He responded with, why do I need a knife to charge him,” Danielyan explained. The latter issue has begun the day Aghamalyan was taken into custody.
Without a search warrant, the police searched Aghamalyan’s home, with knowledge that he was at his grandmothers, they went after him and during the process of taking him into custody, the police stroke both Aghamalyan and his grandmother.
The police did not allow Aghamalyan’s mother to enter the precinct and was only able to see her son in the morning, while noticing traces of violence on his body. Subsequently, Hayk Aghamalyan said that eight people had beat him and hit on the back while pulling him from his hair.
The other violation within the preliminary investigation is that no forensic examination had taken place. According to the human rights defender, Aghamalyan’s confession testimony was the grounds for him being charged. Danielyan noted, that in reality, Aghamalyan did strike a teenager with a knife during the fight but not the person who later died.
Furthermore, Danielyan finds it odd that video footage of the fight participants walking on Teryan Street has been studied, while there no footage exists of the actual fight. He stated that it may have been in a central location and has likely been videotaped.
Recall, that premeditated murder can lead to a sentence of 20 year to lifelong imprisonment and in consideration to Aghamalyan being of juvenile, the accuser has demanded 8-10 years imprisonment.