Epress.am News from Armenia
70-year-old Khachatur Gichyan, who was arrested last summer on suspicion of providing a truck to the members of the “Daredevils of Sasun” armed group that seized a police station in Yerevan on July 17, is in a critical condition, Gichyan’s lawyer, Tigran Sargsyan, told Epress.am on Monday.
According to Sargsyan, the prisoner has been transferred to the Convicts’ Hospital, after suffering a sharp health deterioration last week; “His condition is critical, and spending a few days at the Convicts’ Hospital will not help him. Whenever he is brought to a courtroom to extend his detention period, he is taken back in ambulance.”
Gichyan has told his lawyer that there are only 6 beds in the 12-person cell he is being held in, and that all the inmates there smoke, which leads to a further worsening of his health state. “I have appealed to the office of the Human Rights Ombudsman to transfer Gichyan to a cell for non-smokers where he will also be able to lie down and rest. The Office has replied that all necessary conditions for Gichyan’s well-being will be provided once he is transferred back to the Nubarashen prison,” Sargsyan told Epress.am.
Khachatur Gichyan has been charged with aiding the armed the group; the lawyer, however, is convinced that the accusation is based solely on assumptions, since the prosecution has no actual proof that the truck used by Sasna Tsrer to break into the police station had been deliberately given to the group by Gichyan.