Inmate on Hunger Strike Sews Mouth Shut and Cuts Veins

A 30-year-old prisoner, Tigran Badalyan, who has been on a hunger and thirst strike for 18 days, took an extreme step yesterday. In his cell, he sewed his mouth shut and cut a vein in his wrist. Tigran was urgently transported to a civilian hospital where several bandages were applied to his hand, and then he was returned to the Armavir penitentiary.

This information was reported to Forrights by his mother, Marine. The inmate, who has health issues, is taking these extreme measures ‘for justice, to prove his innocence.’ She stated, ‘Since the last hunger strike, which lasted about 20 days, Tigran has lost 25 kg, and besides that, he has liver problems; during that time, he was even transferred to the Penitentiary Hospital. In these conditions of the coronavirus, they are putting my sick son in a situation where he feels compelled to take such action to prove his innocence,’ said the inmate's mother.

Badalyan has been charged under Article 177, Part 3, Clause 1.1 of the Criminal Code for theft committed in especially large amounts through illegal entry into a residence. According to the charges, Tigran allegedly broke into his fellow villager's house by opening a window and stole 10,000 AMD, and later entered the basement through an open door and stole five aluminum sheets worth a total of 115,000 AMD, which he sold the same evening for 15,000 AMD to another villager.

However, his mother denies the accusations. She claims her son did not steal but rather found the sheets on the street. 'My son says, ‘Mom, if I didn’t steal, why would I go to jail? The article prescribes 4-8 years, and the prosecutor has said he will demand the maximum. Understand me; I am not hiding a criminal; if he had truly stolen, I would be the first to spit in his face and hand him over to the police. He has a 3-year-old child; how am I supposed to raise that child for 8 years, what am I supposed to say—his father is in jail for being innocent?’” the mother expressed.

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