Artak Galstyan Writes Open Letter to Pashinyan

The president of the "Public Voice" party, Artak Galstyan, has communicated an open letter through "Hraparak". Mr. Pashinyan, on the occasion of Constitution Day, you stated in your message that innocent people are no longer arrested, detained, or convicted in the Republic of Armenia. If this is true, then:

• Why am I, without any basis and only on the testimony of one person, being held in custody due to my political beliefs?
• Why has Argishti Kyaramyan detained my son, my wife, my lawyer, issued a warrant for my daughter-in-law, and threatened to torture or kill them in order to extract a desired testimony from me?
• Why does the Investigative Committee conduct searches in our office at night, secretly and without a court order, subsequently sealing it and effectively discontinuing the party's activities, when only the Constitutional Court can halt such activities?
• Why does the Investigative Committee break down doors to search my brother's, my neighbor's, and my wife's residences, sealing them and effectively depriving the owners of their constitutional right to use these properties?
• Why does the Investigative Committee seize my family’s cars, all our money, and jewelry, leaving my family without means of subsistence without a court order?

Mr. Pashinyan, how is it that my son was arrested in Georgia on May 27 as a result of Investigative Committee actions, while his official arrest warrant was issued only on June 8? The answers to the questions are available.

If people are not tortured in the Republic of Armenia anymore, then how can it be that I was tortured for four days by Azat Gevorgyan, head of the Investigative Committee of Yerevan, and other employees of the Committee? Moreover, during my torture, both stated that they were acting on your orders and had received a mandate to kill, without limitation.

Mr. Pashinyan, where have you seen a democratic country where the head of the Investigative Committee and the head of the Yerevan office torture members and supporters of an entire party, assault them with electric shocks, attempt to throw them out of a window, threaten to throw grenades at their families, and physically eliminate them in your name?

Where have you seen a democratic country where a person, merely serving as the head of the Investigative Committee, declares in front of an arrestee that he is the master of the country and uses sexual insults against the Prosecutor General, head of the NSS, and the police chief, threatening them that if they do not comply with his instructions, he will dismiss them and eliminate them?

Incidentally, Arman Mkrtumyan, Eduard Aleksanyan, Hayk Khachatryan, Andranik Anadalyan, myself, as well as another 10-15 members of the party have been brutally tortured by Argishti Kyaramyan, Azat Gevorgyan, and other employees of the Investigative Committee at the Yerevan Investigative Department, personally at the behest of the head of the Committee and in your name.

I believe that to clarify the real essence of slander by Argishti Kyaramyan, an objective assessment should be given to the complaints of the above-mentioned individuals and my representations, leading to a fair investigation. The cases against us in the Investigative Committee should be transferred to another investigative body to determine whether the charges are fabricated or not. Most importantly, the case of the person tortured by Argishti Kyaramyan cannot be investigated by the institution he leads.

Mr. Pashinyan, if the above-mentioned is not ensured, and these cases are not investigated objectively, then a minimum of 15 people will believe that they were tortured on your orders due to their political beliefs, that attempts were made to kill their families and to rape their children based on your orders. This development would mean the collapse of your declared democratic stronghold and the establishment of a totalitarian regime in the country.

Mr. Pashinyan, you yourself have been unjustly sentenced; you have been tortured during detention—you should understand what a devastating path this is for the country. I hope we will reach a fair examination of our cases in the democratic country you proclaimed.

P.S. I am convinced that the group of scoundrels will again attempt to torture me, my family members, and my close ones. I am merely curious whether they will do it again under the name of the country’s leader, with the silent assistance of the prosecution, the NSS, and the courts, or whether Argishti Kyaramyan will reaffirm that he is actually the master of the country and decides who to kill and who to let live. God protect the Armenian people.

— Artak Galstyan, President of the "Public Voice" Party, July 7, 2023, "Nubarashen" Penitentiary