Couple Involved in Human Trafficking for Begging Through Threats

The Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia has uncovered the circumstances surrounding the trafficking of two or more individuals by agreement between parties, in a multi-faceted investigation conducted by the department against human trafficking, sexual offenses against minors, and the illegal circulation of narcotics.

Charges have been brought against a couple from Yerevan, aged 43 and 49.

The investigation revealed that the 43-year-old resident of Yerevan, in agreement with his 49-year-old wife, utilized the vulnerability of the individuals by threatening to commit non-dangerous violence to health and through dangerous violence, he trafficked three individuals for forced labor. Among those trafficked was an individual who, due to a mental disorder, was partially incapable of understanding the nature and significance of his actions and controlling them.

Specifically, the couple, by prior agreement and as part of a group, showed their united intent to exploit individuals, keeping and exploiting three people who engaged in begging in various areas of Yerevan's Kentron administrative district. One of these individuals was deprived of the ability to partially understand the nature and significance of his actions due to a mental disorder. They were told that those areas belonged to them, they were in charge of those areas, and if the individuals continued to beg, they had to give the couple a daily amount of money.

When they refused to comply with the couple's demands, the couple used violence and threats to forcibly involve them in begging, taking the money they earned through begging from the summer of 2018 until the end of May 2019.

According to the data obtained during the investigation, by repeatedly subjecting one of the mentioned Yerevan residents to dangerous violence and through threats of such violence, the couple involved him in the retail sale of napkins, organizing the sale of napkins to drivers of vehicles in the Kentron district of Yerevan and taking the revenue generated from this.

Based on a sufficient combination of evidence, the couple has been charged under Article 132, Part 2, Points 1, 2, and 4, as well as Article 132.2, Part 2, Points 2 and 4 of the RA Criminal Code. They have been remanded in custody as a preventive measure. The preliminary investigation has been completed, and the criminal case has been sent to the prosecutor overseeing the legality of the preliminary investigation for indictment.

Notice: The individual suspected or accused of the alleged crime is considered innocent until proven guilty following the procedure set by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, by a legally binding judgment of the court.