SIS Rejects Appeal to Initiate Proceedings Against Investigator

Armenia's Special Investigation Service turned away an appeal filed by Larisa Asryan, a resident of the village of Haykashen in Armavir province, who sought to initiate criminal proceedings against investigator Arman Karapetyan.

The woman wrote an appeal letter to the Armenian General Prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan, claiming that her son, Argishti Saribekyan, had had nothing to do with a 2013 robbery and aggravated assault case and was wrongly sentenced to 12 years in prison. Asryan demanded that authorities conduct a thorough and impartial investigation, as well as bring investigator Arman Karapetyan to justice for “multiple violations” in the case.

According to the appeal, Karapetyan, an employee of the Vagharshapat Investigation Division, forged the testimony of defendant Karen Khachatryan, a minor, which had alleged that Saribekyan had been with the three other accused during the robbery. Khachatryan's mother, Ruzanna Khachatryan, reportedly told Larisa Asryan that the boy had been subjected to violence at the police station and pressured to testify against Saribekyan. Furthermore, Ruzanna Khachatryan allegedly added, Karapetyan made her and her son sign blank sheets on which he later wrote the minor's testimony.

Asryan's appeal also stressed that Karen Khachatryan subsequently retracted his pre-trial testimony, stating in court that Saribekyan had not been involved in the crime. The courts, however, chose to ignore this fact. The woman's further complaints and appeals were also disregarded by authorities. 

Larisa Asryan alleged that the violations committed by the investigator were covered up by prosecutor Arsen Aghabekyan, who also “openly threatened the defendants' relatives” in and outside of the courtroom. “I will do everything to make sure your sons are convicted,” Asryan cited the prosecutor as saying.
 
The General Prosecutor's office redirected the woman's appeal letter to the Special Investigation Service, which, in turn, branded Asryan's claims “untrue” and refused to open a criminal case against Arman Karapetyan, citing lack of corpus delicti.

Speaking to Epress.am Wednesday, however, Asryan insisted on the opposite. She said that Ruzanna Khachatryan has sent three statements to the courts on behalf of her son, noting that Saribekyan had not taken part in the robbery. 

“I declare with full responsibility that the crime was committed by my son Karen Khachatryan, my son-in-law Grigor Nersisyan, and [their] friend Gevorg Terteryan. Argishti Saribekyan was not involved in the robbery. We ask the court to overturn the verdict and send the case to re-investigation,” Khachatryan's letter to the Appeals Court read.

Ruzanna Khachatryan's statement, however, is not mentioned in the SIS' decision. Investigator L. Stepanyan writes that Ruzanna Khachatryan has been called in for questioning and has denied that her son was either pressured or beaten by police. Khachatryan, according to SIS, has also denied having been given blank papers to sign by investigator Karapetyan.