Citizen Tortured in Charentzavan Police Division, Allegations of Cover-Up

The Charentzavan division of the Kotayk regional police department of the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs is allegedly involved in the torture of a citizen six months ago, with attempts being made to cover up the incident. This was stated by lawyer Sasun Rafaelian in an interview with News.am.

According to him, nearly six months have passed since the incident, yet no one has been held accountable. Police officers involved continue to serve in their positions, and apart from questioning the victim, no other evidentiary or procedural actions have been taken.

“On January 12, Arman Khalapyan was summoned to the Charentzavan division of the Kotayk regional police department under the pretext of providing clarifications regarding a conflict involving his son. Arman Khalapyan, along with a friend, went to the Charentzavan division in his friend's vehicle, where he was received by officers of the Internal Security Department. He substantiated that his son had no connection to the incident, after which the department employees informed him that the division head wanted to see him. They went to the office of the head of the division, Mher Minasian, where after approximately five minutes of conversation, ministry employees entered and, in the presence of the head, tortured Arman Khalapyan before arresting him and transferring him to the RA Investigative Committee,” the lawyer explained.

Sasun Rafaelian also shared that to impose detention as a preventive measure on Arman Khalapyan, they carried him to the court on a stretcher. “After that, on January 13, during the court hearing, the accused Arman Khalapyan's health deteriorated sharply, and he was diagnosed with a 'closed spinal injury, lateral fractures of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd lumbar vertebrae on the right without displacement.' On the same day, detention was chosen as a preventive measure for Arman Khalapyan, and he was presented in court lying on the stretcher,” he said.

The lawyer noted that the investigator in charge of the proceedings questioned Arman Khalapyan three months later, emphasizing that law enforcement is now doing everything possible to cover up the case.

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