{"id":280831,"date":"2017-05-26T18:48:05","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T14:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/epress.am\/?p=280831"},"modified":"2017-05-26T18:48:05","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T14:48:05","slug":"police-are-not-private-guards-armenian-law-enforcers-have-no-mechanisms-to-protect-woman-from-abusive-husband","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/2017\/05\/26\/police-are-not-private-guards-armenian-law-enforcers-have-no-mechanisms-to-protect-woman-from-abusive-husband.html","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Police Are Not Private Guards:\u2019 Armenian Law Enforcers Have \u2018No Mechanisms\u2019 to Protect Woman From Abusive Husband"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a Thursday hearing of their divorce case at Yeravan\u2019s Malatia-Sebastia district court, Yerevan-man Ara Khachatryan blocked his soon-to-be ex-wife Naira Smbatyan\u2019s and her supporters\u2019 way with his car, not letting them leave the area. The woman phoned police to ask for help; however, those who arrived at the scene 40 minutes were officers of the Sixth Intelligence Directorate, who had been called by Khachatryan.<\/p>\n

Immediately after their arrival, Smbatyan told Epress.am, the intelligence officers \u201cattacked our taxi with such fervor that we had to lock the car\u2019s windows and doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said I was wanted and tried to open the doors. I\u2019m not missing, I\u2019ve just left my husband because I was being periodically subjected to physical, and, more importantly, psychological abuse. I left him on January 4 and returned to my father’s house. My husband has even attacked my father’s house several times,\u201d Smbatyan added.<\/p>\n

Smbatyan and her supporters – representatives of the Women\u2019s Support Center NGO who are assisting the woman in her divorce case – insistently refused to exit the car, and the officers managed to convince all parties to at least drive to the Malatia police station for questioning.<\/p>\n

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Ara Khachatryan outside the Malatia police station<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once they arrived, however, Ara Khachatryan refused to go inside and remained seated in his car outside the police station. Being familiar with her husband\u2019s aggressive and violent behavior, Smbatyan asked police officers to take measures to ensure that she and her supporters were properly protected, to which one of the officers indignantly replied: \u201cPolice are not private guards!\u201d He then added that police were aware Ara Khachatryan was waiting for Smbatyan outside the building, but that \u201cat the moment there is nothing we can do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a right to free movement,\u201d the officer explained to our reporter.<\/p>\n

The chief of the Malatia police, for his part, claimed that \u201cthe law does not provide any mechanism to protect Naira.\u201d The police chief, however, offered to provide a car \u201con my own initiative\u201d so that the woman was able to leave through the back door.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m scared; I won\u2019t go to the court hearings any more. I\u2019ve authorized my lawyers to represent me,\u201d Smbatyan told Epress.am. The police officers\u2019 conduct, the woman continued, was not surprising: several months ago Smbatyan reported that she had been subjected to physical abuse and the case was investigation by the Arabkir police department. But although the bruises on her body were confirmed as marks of beating, the investigator decided to terminate the case on the grounds that it was unknown who had beaten Smbatyan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is absurd. It\u2019s a domestic violence case; no one, except for her husband, could have beaten Naira at her house. We have appealed the decision to close the case at the first instance court,\u201d Smbatyan\u2019s lawyer, Stepan Voskanyan, said in conversation with Epress.am.<\/p>\n

The woman herself is also unhappy with the investigation into the attack on his father’s house. \u201cThe police only recorded the property damage, ignoring his motive for the attack,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n