VIDEO: Moscow Traffic Police Brutally Assault Ethnic Armenian Man

A video of the brutal arrest of an ethnic Armenian man by traffic police in Moscow has been shared on social media. The footage was reportedly taken on the morning of April 13 in the Yuzhnoye Tushino neighborhood, and the driver is identified as Russian citizen Vachagan Hovhannisyan.

The commentary accompanying the video indicates that during the arrest, the traffic police officers physically assaulted the driver, resulting in a concussion, facial bone fractures, and multiple bruises.

Rusarminfo.ru managed to contact Vachagan's brother, Artak Hovhannisyan, who revealed that both brothers were born and raised in Moscow and are currently studying at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, while also engaging in sports.

According to Artak, his brother was stopped for allegedly driving in the opposite lane, an accusation he claims is unfounded as there is a boundary line that a witness can confirm. Artak detailed that a conflict arose when the traffic police officer refused to return his brother's driver's license, after which Vachagan was thrown to the ground and beaten.

A local resident who witnessed the incident called an ambulance and the police to protect Vachagan from the traffic officers. Artak arrived at the scene after receiving a call from his brother, only to find that the traffic police had taken Vachagan to an investigative isolation facility without waiting for the arrival of the ambulance crew; the doctors later had to transfer Vachagan to the hospital from there.

Artak stated that the same traffic police officers who had beaten his brother came to the hospital and dragged him into a vehicle to take him away.

Vachagan Hovhannisyan and the witness who filmed the assault have already filed several complaints with various law enforcement bodies, to which the traffic police responded with their accusations, claiming that Vachagan had struck them. “He told me personally that he didn't lay a finger on them. Moreover, he is not an aggressive person. Additionally, he has a diagnosed thyroid disease, which confirms his sluggishness during the events, and he could not have attacked or beaten anyone,” said Artak Hovhannisyan.

A trial has now begun, and Vachagan Hovhannisyan is under suspicion according to Article 318 of the Russian Criminal Code for using violence against state officials. Measures of restraint are being chosen against him.