Epress.am News from Armenia
On December 31, 2014, after a car accident in the Nork-Marash district, Kristine Mangasaryan and three others in the car were detained by police and a criminal case was initiated against two of them. Mangasaryan told Epress.am about the incident. According to her, the police beat them up where the accident took place, as well as in the police car and at the station.
According to Mangasaryan, the conflict with the police officers began when her husband Kamo Hayrapetyan, after hitting another car, began to curse with rage. Police approached, demanded that he stopped cursing. Mangasaryan attempted to intervene in the argument between her husband and the police officer, trying to calm them down. One of the officers pushed her, which subsequently led to a scuffle and then to a fight.
“There were 4 police officers, they later made a call and multiplied in number. They beat up my husband and his friend, hit my husband with a baton, they pulled my hair, handcuffed me, and put me in the car. From the car, I saw how they threw my husband to the ground. I told them to release my handcuffs, and they hit me really hard. They also kicked my husband’s friend in the head. They took us to the police station. My friend, who was also in the car, had fainted. They brought her to the station half an hour later,” said Mangasaryan.
According to her, the violence continued at the police station. All 4 in custody were put in one room. “The police officers were spitting on the men behind the bars. They hit me in the face and my feet and my husband on his head and arms. Only 4 days later did they take us for a medical forensic examination, probably in order to give the bruises some time to disappear,” said Mangasaryan.
One day after, on January 1st, Mangasaryan and her friend were released, while her husband and his friend were arrested. The medical examination concluded that the women had received medium to heavy physical injuries. The medical results of the arrested are still not available. Mangasaryan also said that a civil lawyer was not provided to her husband and his friend.
The Investigative Committee’s Press Spokesperson Sona Truzyan told Epress.am that the arrested individuals were charged with article 316 of the criminal code (using violence against representatives of the authorities).
According to Truzyan, one of the arrested men demanded a civil defender in late January, the other in the beginning of February. “A civil defender is provided only after filling out an application to the Chamber of Advocates. We received the response yesterday,” said Truzyan. Note, that, according to the law, a civil defender must be provided immediately after the suspect demands one.
Sona Truzyan said she did not find the delay of the medical examination results suspicious. According to her, it depends on how occupied the experts are at the moment.