Escape Attempt Prevented at Vardashen Penitentiary

Officers of the Vardashen penitentiary under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, acting on received operational information, conducted an unscheduled search and inspection at the cell of convict E.V., who is serving a 15-year sentence and is also charged with an attempted escape from another penitentiary. This operation successfully thwarted E.V.’s planned escape attempt.

According to the public relations department of the penitentiary service, during the search of the two-story building, a handmade metal spike, 35 cm in length, was found and seized from the cell window. Additionally, various homemade tools were discovered in hidden caches throughout the cell, including a 5 cm long metal spike and pieces of rough concrete.

In the corner of the cell's bathroom, a polymer ventilation pipe with a diameter of 10.5 cm had a wooden panel, painted the same color as the ceiling, secured with screws, cleverly concealing an irregularly shaped opening of approximately 36 x 27 cm. Around the edges of this opening, five drilled holes, about 1 cm in diameter, were discovered, camouflaged with pieces of white handkerchief matching the ceiling’s color. A portion of the pipe had been pre-cut to facilitate easy removal. It was previously sealed with red gravel placed on the roof.

Upon removing the linoleum on the cell floor, it was revealed that several of the floorboards were glued together with adhesive tape painted the same color as the floor for camouflage. After their removal, similar materials resembling the red gravel on the ceiling were visible through the exposed gaps. Following the disassembly of the floorboards, a hidden compartment was uncovered containing a hand-made knife fashioned from a 67 cm long, 1 cm diameter metal pipe taken from the cell’s bed. This knife matched the diameter of the five drilled holes in the ceiling, facilitating extraction with a pre-attached cable.

Also found in the same hiding place was a 2 cm long piece missing from the ventilation pipe, along with a white plaster-like solid mass used to conceal the edges of the ceiling panel and a similarly covered piece of flat wood.

The collection of numerous objects connected to the crime and serving as tools indicates that E.V., once again planning an escape from the penitentiary, had taken direct measures towards committing the crime by pre-drilling a hole in the cell ceiling and camouflaging it, intending to exit from the cell to the roof and subsequently escape from the penitentiary.

Materials are being prepared regarding this incident, and forensic, material-scientific, and other examinations have been appointed. Notably, E.V. had previously attempted to escape from the Nubarashen penitentiary in 2018 using a similar method of creating a hole in the wall, which was also thwarted by the penitentiary officers.