The citizens who were beaten in Baghramyan Avenue, near the National Assembly on June 12, give details of the incident. In a conversation with Forrights.am, Mkhitar Abrahamyan, who participated in the rally demanding Pashinyan’s resignation, claims that he was abused by five or six people, all of them police officers.
“The police caught my friend, an old man with white hair. When they were kidnapping him, I pulled him back. A scoundrel pulled me, using ugliest language: I don’t want to repeat his words. He said about me: ‘Take this thing’. They pulled me, my shoes flew off, and they started punching me. I couldn’t stand up on my feet; I fell. They started kicking me, hitting like furious animals. There were six people beating me. I lost my breath, and one of them was shouted, ‘He is pretending, hit him’!” he said, adding that he also witnessed cases of beating at least two other citizens.
“When they left me, I saw another boy being beaten. I recognized him; he was Arshak’s brother. Arshak participated in the war with my son. I saw that his face was allc overed with blood. Then I saw a man, about 40 years old, lying unconscious, no one was helping him,” said Mkhitar Abrahamyan.
He states that he received many injuries from the beatings of the police. He received inpatient treatment in the hospital for four days, and now he is moving around with great difficulty.
“I have five stents placed on my heart. They have beaten me so much that my ribs were broken. I endured the physical pain, but they opened their mouths and weer cursing me with unbelievable language,” said Mkhitar Abrahamyan.
According to him, there were policemen in civilian clothes who started a provocation by throwing objects and whistling at the uniformed policemen, after which the police started using brutal methods. “I was standing in front of the police barricade. I saw how the police groups drag the people inside of the police group, where there were no journalists or civilians, and doing their work there,” the citizen insists. Refering to the government’s statements that they had the intention to enter the building of the National Assembly, he said.
“No such thing as intention of entering a building happened; they say it to justify their actions. Ten rows of police were standing; how could unarmed people think of entering the building? The provocation was from them: the policemen in civilian clothes, who were unknown to us, were throwing things at the policemen.”
Mkhitar Abrahamyan is a member of the Dashnakcutyun party, a participant in the first Artsakh war. His son, Tavros Abrahamyan, was killed in the 44-Day War at the age of 26, during the defensive battles of the Varangatagh hill.
Mkhitar Abrahamyan has not yet been interrogated, and he does not have the status of a victim. About a week after the clashes near the National Assembly, it is still not known how many of the 101 citizens taken to hospitals with various injuries were recognized as victims. The Investigative Committee informs that they are carrying out calculations. According to the law-enforcement organization, since the start of the “Tavush for the Motherland” actions, 29 proceedings have been initiated regarding the actions of the policemen, but no criminal case has been initiated against any police officer yet. From April until now, 41 official investigations and studies are being carried out in the police, only one officer’s powers have been suspended.
Mkhitar Abrahamyan has not decided whether he will file a crime report for violence against him or not. He said he has no confidence in the law enforcement officers. HRD Anahit Manasyan visited him in the hospital and said that he refused to communicate with the defender [who is known for her allegiance to authorities].
Narek Kiraoksyan
Narek Kirakosyan
Narek Kirakosyan is a journalist, works on the principle of "a person is an absolute value".