A forensic examination of the body of 36-year-old Edgar Chatinyan, who was taken to Nor Nork police on April 7 and died at the Armenia Medical Center on April 8, according to independent criminal expert Ruben Martirosyan, reveals that the young man was a victim of police and medical actions.
“It is about the murder, which involved both the police and the doctors,” the expert told Forrights.am. “Four months have passed, but so far no doctor and no police officer have been charged. Upon receiving the forensic report, they were required to file charges. “
It should be reminded that Edgar Chatinyan, 36, died at the Armenia Medical Center on April 8. He, as his family insists, was killed due to brutal beatings, intimidation, and then, because of the threats, swallowing dangerous drug, and due to doctors’ indifference as well. A criminal case has been launched at the SIS on charges of torture by police. Later, in accordance with Article 130 (2) of the Criminal Code, a criminal case was initiated by the RA Investigative Committee for not providing adequate medical care.
Larisa Yeparyan, the mother of the deceased, had told us earlier that her son had been tortured at the police station in an attempt to obtain testimony regarding killing of an elderly woman. According to the mother, after beating, the police tried to put a drug called “Crystal” into Edgar’s pocket to force him to write what they wanted, but the latter resisted since he had been convicted previously, and, fearing that he would be convicted again, swallowed the drug.
After the incident, police transported him to St. Gregory the Illuminator Hospital. According to the mother, they refused to receive him in the hospital, did not provide medical assistance. From there they moved him to Armenia Medical Center. There, Edgar was neglected and, according to the parent, died.
“The doctors and nurses were watching some TV series in their room, doing nothing. My son was lying with an empty needle in his arm. Even after our request, they did not do gastric lavage. My child was well, so well that he told us great deal of things,” said the grieving mother.
“If they would provide medical assistance, the boy would have survived”
Edgar Chatinyan’s relatives have recently received the results of forensic examination of his corpse, conducted by forensic doctor S. Harutyunyan. According to forensic expert Ruben Martirosyan, the forensic report proves that Edgar, when being admitted to the hospital, told the doctors that he had swallowed a drug called Crystal.
“The conclusion of the report states that doctors said Edgar’s stomach was pumped up, but the forensic doctor noted that there was about 50ml of dark green semiliquid mucus-like substance, 2.355g of methamphetamine in his stomach,” an expert said. According to him, it’s a deadly dosage. According to relatives, the drug Edgar swallowed out of fear was 3 grams.
“There was 0.1g in Edgar’s blood and 0.9g in urine. In the stomach, this poison was about 23 times more than what has been penetrated in blood. A deadly amount of poison was in his stomach. Poisoning of internal organs occurred, which killed him. If the doctors pumped his stomach up, how did 50 ml of green mass remain in the stomach? Either they did it improperly or did not do at all,” the expert said, adding that a polyethylene bag with zip lock was also found in Edgar’s stomach.
“In fact, they did not do the necessary gastric cleansing. If they did, if they had shown him timely assistance, that young man would have survived.”
“Edgar Chatinyan stayed in the hospital for 8 hours and 40 minutes and during that time he was not given any real medical care. The impression is that the police instructed the doctors to do so because, if he lived, he would testify against them,” noted the expert.
According to forensic examination, Edgar Chatinyan died of exogenous poisoning. “Exogenous acute intoxication by the “Methamphetamine” drug.”
According to the expert, Nor Nork investigator A. Navasardyan did not ask the forensic doctor whether the doctors acted according to the law and provided adequate medical care to the deceased.
“The doctors did not do their job, they showed criminal inaction, which resulted in Edgar’s death,” Martirosyan concluded.
“The fact of bodily injuries gives basis to say that the boy was beaten and tortured in the police station”
A forensic doctor recorded that two polyethylene bags (one in the other) were in Edgar’s stomach. That is, the drug was in the bag.
An explanation given by Edgar’s family lawyer Arayik Zalyan from the penitentiary states that Edgar went to the Nor Nork Police Station to testify about the murder of an elderly woman in a neighboring building.
“If he had gone to the police on his own feet, was he an idiot to keep this Crystal in his pocket? It is illogical that it was his drug because no one goes to the police station carrying drugs. Even a drug addict will not do such a thing,” said Ruben Martirosyan. “This means, the drug did not belong to him; that is for sure. If the police say the drug belonged to him, they are trying to fool us. Nobody enters the police station with narcotics in his pocket.”
According to the forensic report, police beat Edgar with punches and batons. “The forensic doctor recorded the following injuries on Edgar’s body: bleeding on the inside of the left half of the upper lip. This means that Edgar was hit with open palm to prevent injury from outside. If they hit with a fist, there would be traces on the outside,” the expert said, continuing to list the injuries.
“There were two hemorrhages in the left half of the inner lip, hemorrhages in the left arm. Two scratches on right arm joint. A scratch on the right forearm. Scratched on the left wrist surface. A scratch on right wrist. A scratch on the third finger of the right wrist. A scratch on the third finger of the left wrist. There is also a scratch on the right wrist. We can be sure that Edgar has been handcuffed and beaten.”
Edgar received injuries about 24 hours before his death, that is, when he was in police custody.
“They [the injuries] have all been delivered separately. When Edgar tried to resist, they hit the palms of his hands with a baton. In other words, we have a definite fact today that the police beat Edgar and tortured,” Martirosyan concluded. By the way, Armenian Police Chief Valeriy Osipyan stated that the police did not touch Edgar even with a finger.
According to the expert, the assumption that Edgar committed suicide by swallowing the drug is absurd. “Because if he wanted to die, he wouldn’t have told the doctors right from the beginning that he had swallowed drugs and wouldn’t have wanted them to save his life. It is not excluded that he was threatened by the police and that he swallowed the drug under that threat. The fact of bodily injuries suggests that the boy was beaten and tortured at the police station, the evidence is in conclusion.”
“Everyone is going unpunished, but my husband is no more and my daughter has no father”
Edgar’s relatives suspect that criminal charges brought for Edgar’s death are being covered up. There is no progress during about 4 months.
“Armenia MC doctors are still unpunished, Nor Nork police officers who have inflicted severe injuries on my husband, which is confirmed by forensic expertise, are also unpunished. Everyone goes unpunished, but today my husband is no more and my daughter does not have a father,” Edgar’s wife complained to us. “This case is definitely being concealed. To whomever we turn, no one responds, and today his two children are fatherless. Or, is it so easy to eliminate a person from the face of the earth? Today, those who beat my husband work as policemen, and my husband is not alive and my daughter does not have a father.”
When we asked the Special Investigation Service (SIS) what is new in the criminal case, they answered that the investigation is ongoing, there are no accused in the case.
And the RA Investigation Committee is investigating the criminal case on the provision of inadequate medical care under part 2 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code. When asked the penitentiary what was new in this case, they replied that a forensic medical examination had been assigned to the case, the conclusion of which is still pending.
Marine Kharatyan