Epress.am News from Armenia
During the first court hearing in the case of Karen Kungortsev (pictured) from Vanadzor, accused of murdering 15 year old Davit Hovakimyan, the defendant’s lawyer, Araik Papikyan, motioned to remove prosecutor Petros Martirosyan from the case. Papikyan told Epress.am about the latter.
The grounds for the recuse, according to the lawyer, is that the prosecutor cannot defend the accusations because during the entire preliminary examination he was inactive. Papikyan says that in the period when the prosecutor was not monitoring the case, the investigator, Taron Tadevosyan, made numerous violations and arbitrations.
The judge rescheduled the court session to November 18 because of the absence of the plaintiff from the court and decided to turn to the motioned recuse against the prosecutor during the next court hearing.
Recall, Karen Kungortsev does not admit guilt, and human rights defenders and his attorney indicate violations recorded during the preliminary investigations. While behind bars, the accused has resorted to self harm, as well as beginning a hunger strike. His mother said that her son was beaten by police while under police custody and forced to confess.
Kungortsev’s accusation was changed from murder to attempted murder last August. At the same time, the investigation accused and detained Vanadzor Medical Center company’s doctor Vladimir Ghukasyan for unfair treatment and improper implementation of professional duties.