Human rights activist: policemen beat and tortured citizen by order  of Armenia`s ruling political force

ArmInfo. The beating of citizen Samvel Vardanyan was organized by the ruling political force 

in Armenia, the "Civil Contract". Human rights activist, ex-Ombudsman of Artsakh Ruben Melikyan stated on April 16 during a specially convened press conference.

Earlier, Samvel Vardanyan was detained on suspicion of hooliganism 

after an altercation with an MP from the ruling Civil Contract 

faction Hakob Aslanyan. Video footage of the incident in one of the 

city buses shows that a Samvel Vardanyan sitting on the bus, 

recognizing Aslanyan, known for his odious statements, called him an 

" Anti-Armenian bastard".

The human rights activist noted that the basis for such an outcome 

-the order from the "Civil Contract" to beat, was the statement 

voiced by Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, after the 

incident.  Melikyan emphasized that law enforcement agencies are 

accomplices in the crime.

As a result, Samvel Vardanyan was detained and charged with 

hooliganism, although, according to the human rights activist, there 

are no signs of hooliganism. According to Melikyan, this is a "severe 

condemnation."

During the press conference, Vardanyan's lawyer Varazdat Harutyunyan 

said that on the way from the Investigative Committee to the 

pre-trial detention center, the latter was severely beaten by 3 

masked policemen. Presenting the details of the beating with the 

permission of the victim, Harutyunyan noted that such an attitude can 

only be found in Baku prisons towards Armenian prisoners.  "A minute 

and a half later, as the car set off from the Investigative Committee 

in the direction of the pre- trial detention center, 2 police 

officers in civilian clothes stopped the car, saying that they 

allegedly wanted to relieve themselves. After 3 people in masks took 

Vardanyan out of the car, taking him to a deserted dark place. 

They forced him to kneel, hit his head on the ground and started 

beating him. This entire process was accompanied by obscene language 

that belittled a person's dignity. Moreover, the masked people forced 

Samvel to repeat this abuse against himself. After he refuses, they 

start spitting on him. And here it is important to note that Samvel's 

hands were handcuffed behind his back. Next, the police pulled down 

Samvel's pants and put a baton between his legs. We heard something 

like this only from our boys who returned from Azerbaijani captivity

Melikyan noted that the Investigative Committee has not yet opened a 

criminal case in this case, explaining this by the fact that it has 

not received any reports. However, as the human rights activist 

noted, media reports and this press conference already serve as the 

basis for initiating a criminal case.  Human rights activists called 

on all citizens of Armenia to take this issue as a personal one, 

since, given the style of the authorities, something like this can 

happen to anyone. They noted that all facts will be presented to 

international organizations. In particular, tomorrow Melikyan and 

Harutyunyan will hold a meeting at the EU Delegation to Armenia.

Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan, commenting on the 

incident, in particular, wrote:  "Today, one nonentity allowed 

himself a hooligan act against the 69-year-old member of the National 

Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Hakob Aslanyan, who, by the way, 

is a participant in three wars.  This hooligan act very quickly will 

receive the strictest reaction from the law, let no one doubt it." 

This is not the first time when clashes occur between citizens and 

representatives of the ruling force. And, as a rule, it is not the 

public officials who get off their hands and sometimes do other 

actions clearly unbecoming of a public official, but the citizens who 

dared to say something to them, who end up behind bars.

Thus, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan, who commented on this 

incident, was previously himself a participant in a similar incident. 

In particular, he spat on a citizen after he called him a "traitor" 

and did not bear any responsibility for these actions. But the 

citizen who called him a "traitor" was immediately detained.

In addition, last month blogger Narek Samsonyan was harshly detained 

and is now in a pre-trial detention center only for daring to speak 

obscenely at the current Prime Minister of Armenia.