Epress.am News from Armenia
On March 12, 2017, the Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanyan (ORO) opposition alliance, and later the Police and the Investigative Committee as well made a statement about an incident after an ORO campaign rally in Jrarat village of Armavir province, during which firearms were also used. The ORO alliance representatives from Jrarat village were taken to the police and released some hours later.
Then, the supporters of ORO involved in the previous incident were injured in another incident with the use of firearms in the same village on March 14. The incidents are being investigated both by the Investigative Committee and the Internal Security Department of the Police.
The Independent Observer public alliance, which carries out a long-term observation mission, has investigates the incidents and prepared a report on its findings.
Use of Firearms
The Police informed that on March 12, firearms were used by Colonel Lernik Yeranosyan serving at Police troops military unit 1001, who was taken to hospital after the incident. Moreover, there was a pistol shot, but no one was injured. After the shooting, the ORO alliance representatives seized the firearms from Lernik Yeranosyan’s hands and then handed it over to the police. This was also confirmed by the ORO leaders.
The Police also informed us that during the incident Colonel Lernik Yeranosyan was not performing his official duties. The Makarov pistol was assigned to (or belonged to) Lernik Yeranosyan.
The data collected by our long-term observers in Jrarat revealed that on March 14 an incident occurred in the same village between the brother of the head of the village, a police officer armed with an assault rifle, Seryozha Galstyan and participants of the previous incident. This information is also confirmed by the ORO alliance. And the Investigative Committee insists that the person armed with an assault rifle was someone else and 4 shots were fired.
According to the eyewitnesses we talked to and the ORO alliance, metal rods were also used during the incident. Erebuni hospital informed the journalists that one of the 3 injured persons has a gunshot wound, the other – a piercing/cutting injury, and the other one – a fracture. The published video suggests that Deputy Chief of Police Levon Yeranosyan was present at the time of at least one of the shots and some beating episodes.
Note that it was previously established that Lernik Yeranosyan is the brother of Levon Yeranosyan, Deputy Chief of Police of Armenia and Police Troops Commander. The Yeranosyans live in Jrarat village and the head of that village, Republican Samvel Galstyan, is their nephew.
Links With the Elections
The law enforcement representatives neither confirm, nor deny that the 1st incident with the use of firearms was linked with the elections and the ORO alliance members insist on such a link and provide details.
Particularly, when taking to our long-term observers, Armen Martirosyan, an ORO leader, noted that during their election campaign meeting in Jrarat on March 12, head of village Samvel Galstyan came up to some of the citizens, swore at them and told them to leave the ally. After the event, the ORO supporters from Jrarat settled accounts with the head of village for the swear words and had a dispute. After the dispute, Colonel of Police Lernik Yeranosyan, uncle of the head of the village, visited the ORO supporters and taking out his pistol told them to get on their knees before him. After they refused to do so, Yeranosyan shot in the air and then the alliance supporters seized the pistol from Yeranosyan’s hands.
One of the published videos also shows how the pistol was later voluntarily handed over to the police.
In a phone conversation with our long-term observer, Armen Ashotyan, Deputy President of the Republican Party of Armenia, refused to comment on the incident.
Our long-term observers who visited Jrarat on March 13 tried to talk to the incident participants (including the head of the village or ORO supporters), but in vain. But many citizens confirmed the links between the incident and the ORO alliance assembly and that the dispute was caused by the head of village swearing at some of the election campaign assembly participants.
In the Jrarat incident of March 14, the persons who seized the pistol from Lernik Yeranosyan’s hands 2 days before were injured and according to the eyewitnesses, the Yeranosyan and Galstyan families were involved in the incident. Moreover, as noted, the fact that Levon Yeranosyan took part in the incident in plain clothes is proven by the published video as well.
In other words, while the March 14 incident had no political context, it was the continuation of the March 12 incident. This was confirmed by both the families of the injured persons and the residents to whom we talked. However, some of the residents the March 14 incident directly with the ORO assembly. In their interviews with our long-term observers, none of Jrarat residents (including the village head’s family) said anything about any previous conflicts or disputes between the incident parties.
However, the Police stated that the incident started with a dispute among children in the village school. Nevertheless, our observers in the village also noticed Hunan Poghosyan, First Deputy Chief of Police.
It should be noted that despite numerous statements that the head of Jrarat village obstructed the ORO assembly, none of the law enforcement agencies examined that episode. Here, it is also noteworthy that while no notification was submitted on the assembly of March 12, the number of its participants was less than 100 and therefore it was completely legal.
Atmosphere in Jrarat
While obviously, on March 12 and 14 pistol and assault rifle shots were fired in Jrarat, people in the village fear to talk about it. All the villagers interviewed by Azatutyun radio station journalist on March 13 and almost all the villagers interviewed in the evening of March 14 unanimously argued that they heard no shots. In their talk with our long-term observers who visited Jrarat, the villagers also overwhelmingly said that they had heard no shots and knew nothing of the incident.
In their interview to our observers, only a few people confirmed that the incident took place but they did so after getting guarantees that their names would not be made public. Back on March 13, some of those people noted that ORO representatives involved in the incident still feared to return to Jrarat.
According to the eyewitnesses we talked to, the incident with use of firearms took place near the municipality of Jrarat village. Persons armed with either rifle assaults or metal rods and knives ambushed in the village municipality building. This information was also confirmed by ORO.
It should also be noted that Deputy Chief of Police Levon Yeranosyan is know for coordinating violence against protesters and giving direct orders to use violence against journalists. Furthermore, after all those incidents, on New Year event, Serzh Sargsyan awarded Levon Yeranosyan with a medal for ‘excellent maintenance of the public order’. Many villagers in Jrarat ‘kindly advised’ our observers even not to pass by the Yeranosyans’ house.
Lernik Yeranosyan has a previous conviction for provoking disputes in a drunken state when he was still a commander at a military unit of the Armed Forces and persecuting his own deputy with threats to kill him. On July 29, 2016 Lernik Yeranosyan threw a flash-bang grenade at the journalists in Sari Tagh. After that incident, by Chief of Police Vladimir Gasparyan’s order Yeranosyan’s official duties were suspended, but later he re-assumed his office.
Note also that while during the incident in the morning of March 14 in Jrarat, Levon Yeranosyan was in plain clothes and according to some eyewitnesses, did nothing to calm down his relatives, a few hours later our observers noticed him in general’s uniform coordinating law enforcement officers’ actions.
When talking about the incident, the residents of Jrarat village either tried not to mention Levon Yeranosyan’s name or whispered it (even when there was no one else around). Anyway, the fact is that the Yeranosyans family members and supporters were armed with a pistol and an illegal assault rifle and used those firearms against the ORO supporters.
Conclusions
Upon examining the said factual circumstances, the Independent Observer public alliance long-term observers made the conclusions below:
The incident that occurred on March 12 in Jrarat village of Armavir marz (region) is linked with the elections and comes to be an attempt by the supporters of the authorities to put pressure on the ORO supporters;
The incident that occurred in the same village on March 14 came to be the continuation of the incident of March 12. Probably, it was Yearnosyans’ revenge on ORO supporters for disarming Lernik Yeranosyan.
In Jrarat village, there is an atmosphere of fear. All the residents fear to talk about the incident, and non-native opposition representatives involved in the incident fear to return to the village. Almost everybody in Jrarat fears Levon Yeranosyan.
The incident largely resulted from the fact that the persons who previously committed crimes (Lernik and Levon Yeranosyans) went unpunished and resumed their service in Police troops.
The Police try to create a false impression among the public that the March 14 incident has nothing to do with the election processes, forces taking part in the elections and senior police officers.
All the law enforcement officers turned a blind eye to the ORO statements that the head of Jrarat village prevented the citizens from attending a lawful assembly.
«Independent Observer» Public Alliance ,
on behalf of founding members:
Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor office,
Union of Informed Citizens,
Martuni Women’s Community Council and
Goris Press Club