Investigation into the Suicide of Young Man Who Entered the National Assembly Suspended

Following the November 9 capitulation agreement, the investigation into the suicide of 27-year-old Garnik Petrosyan, who entered the National Assembly building and posed for a photo at the Vice-Speaker's chair, has been suspended. This information was provided by V. Mesropyan, head of the Monitoring Department of Territorial Investigative Divisions of the Investigative Committee, in response to a written inquiry from NEWS.am.

The criminal case, initiated under Article 110, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code (causing suicide), was suspended last week due to the lack of an identified suspect under Point 1, Part 1 of Article 31 of the RA Criminal Procedure Code. The official of the Investigative Committee also stated that at the current stage of the investigation, there is no individual with the status of suspect or accused, and the motive for Petrosyan's suicide remains unclear.

NEWS.am attempted to clarify whether the issue of alleged threats and pressures exerted by the National Security Service (NSS) officers during the interrogation of Petrosyan in the context of another ongoing investigation has been included in the inquiry. If so, what has been revealed? We also inquired whether the NSS officers who interrogated Petrosyan with the status of an accused person before the alleged suicide had been questioned within the framework of the case, and if so, what procedural status they held. The Investigative Committee refused to provide information regarding these inquiries, citing that they pertain to pre-investigation data that is not subject to publication.

It is noteworthy that Petrosyan jumped from the bridge on November 13, the day he was accused in the case of seizing the Assembly building, around 22:04, just an hour after being interrogated at the NSS. Days after the suicide, on November 18, the prosecutor's office swiftly announced that Petrosyan had previously attempted suicide by taking pills. This refers to an alleged incident that occurred 11 years ago, which the victim had confessed to NSS officers for unknown reasons.

Relying on the testimony provided by Petrosyan to the NSS, the prosecutor's office directed the investigation into the suicide case towards the preliminary assumption that the victim had been predisposed to ending his life before, thereby essentially predetermining the outcome of the case. Meanwhile, from the very beginning of the investigation, NSS officers should at least have been placed under scrutiny as suspects by the prosecutor's office and the investigative committee. The investigators should have clarified, under proper prosecutorial supervision, what conditions the interrogation of Petrosyan occurred within, whether the questions raised could have contributed to a climate of fear for the accused, and whether the interrogation might have adversely affected the accused's mental stability, among other critical issues.

Let us recall that Garnik Petrosyan was arrested on November 10, 2020, regarding the organization and execution of mass disturbances following the publication of a trilateral statement aimed at halting the war, and was charged on November 13 under the criteria of three articles of the criminal code, being released after the expiration of the 72-hour detention period. That evening, the young man's body was discovered under the Kyiv Bridge.