Investigation to be Launched into Yerevan Police Who Detained Opposition Youth

General Prosecutor of Armenia Aghvan Hovsepyan has appealed to police chief Alik Sargsyan for the latter to appoint an investigation into media reports of police obstructing the work of attorneys in Kentron (“Center”) police division on Aug. 9, press spokesperson for the RA General Prosecutor’s Office Sona Truzyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.

The general prosecutor reportedly sent the police chief a photocopy of an article published in local daily Haykakan Jamanak (“Armenian Times”), implying that this article in particular provided a more thorough depiction of the RA Chamber of Advocates’ decision and the incident that occurred.

The police chief has to keep the RA General Prosecutor abreast of the investigation’s findings.

Note, in an Aug. 12 statement, the RA Chamber of Advocates’ board of directors noted that it considered the Yerevan Kentron police division officers’ activities toward attorneys representing opposition Armenian National Congress youth to be unlawful. The board emphasized that the attorneys’ powers were obstructed and they were subject to violence. Furthermore, the Chamber of Advocates finds that in the police station the attorneys were deprived of freedom.

One of the attorneys representing the opposition youth, Vahe Hovsepyan, also submitted a statement about the crime committed to the RA General Prosecutor. Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service, he said he is calling for a criminal case to be launched against the guilty.

According to Hovsepyan, what happened to them can set a dangerous precedent. “For this reason we find that the investigation into this specific case is of great significance.”