Epress.am News from Armenia
The witnesses in the case of Vanadzor resident Karen Kungortsev, who was charged with murdering 15-year old Davit Hovakimyan, are continuing to give their testimonies in court. During the interrogation process in the preliminary investigation, the rights of a few minors were violated, especially the right to give testimony with the presence of a lawyer or parent.
A minor, R.S., who gave testimony in court yesterday, was kept at the police station for 2 days. According to Kungortsev’s lawyer, Helsinki Association lawyer Arayik Papikyan, they “worked on him” while he was in the police precinct. During his testimony, R.S. slightly changed his original testimony, stating that he had been at the site of the incident and had seen Kungortsev there. The latter, however, denies the claim. According to the lawyer, there are other witnesses that claim that R.S. was not present in the location during the fight. The other two witnesses who gave testimonies against Kungortsev, went to the court yesterday and said that the investigator wrote their testimonies for them. When they were shown the testimonies, the witnesses said that they were wrong and did not remember well; confirming that the testimony was written in their handwriting. They also claimed that, they were not present at place of the incident and were informed of it by friends.
Recall, that in one of the previous hearings Gevorg Avagyan, a witness, said that he was pushed by the police to testify against Kungortsev. According to Avagyan, at the police station they showed him a photo of Karen Kungortsev and stated that he has to testify against him. “They said we’ll show you four photos, this person’s photo will be in it as well and you’ll point him out,” explained Gevorg Avagyan. One other witness took back his testimony, saying that he had made up everything.
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.
The charges against Kungortsev were changed from murder to attempted murder last August. At the same time, the investigation accused and detained Vanadzor Medical Center company doctor Vladimir Ghukasyan for unfair treatment and improper implementation of professional duties.