What’s Known About the Brutal Murder on Pushkin Street: Searching for ‘Beslan Haruty’

The Central Division of the Police of the Republic of Armenia is searching for 30-year-old Harutyun Mkrtchyan, a resident of Yerevan. Shamshyan.com reports that he is wanted for his active participation in a brawl that took place in Yerevan on March 6, resulting in severe bodily injuries to 49-year-old Yuri Minasian, who later died in the hospital without regaining consciousness.

At around 2:05 AM on that day, operational information was received by the Central Division of the police regarding a citizen in extremely serious condition on Pushkin Street. While police were en route to the scene, at around 2:30 AM, the Central Division received an alert from Yerevan's Heratsi University Hospital that an individual diagnosed with “polytrauma” had been brought in from near the church on Pushkin Street.

Upon arrival at the hospital, the police were informed by doctors that the victim was in the operating room, unconscious, and could not explain what had happened. Investigators soon established that the injured party was Y. Minasian. According to operational data, a dispute had occurred between certain individuals, involving Harutyun Mkrtchyan from Yerevan and 34-year-old Artavazd Khachikyan from the Kotayk region, who were at the well-known “Beatles” club on Pushkin Street. Following their time there, they proceeded to the backyard of the Holy Zoravar Church on Parpetzi Street, where Mkrtchyan allegedly attacked Y. Minasian without any provocation, inflicting multiple blows to various parts of his body before fleeing the scene.

Shortly thereafter, officers from the Central Division's Criminal Investigation Department and patrol officers from the 1st Company of the Yerevan Police uncovered Artavazd Khachikyan and brought him to the Central Division, from where he was subsequently presented to the investigative unit. A criminal investigation has been initiated in the investigative department under Article 166, part 2, points 10 and 15 of the RA Criminal Code.

According to sources, a warrant has been issued for Harutyun Mkrtchyan in the Central Division, and the investigative department has applied to the court for a detention ruling against Mkrtchyan as a preventive measure. Sources indicate that Mkrtchyan is known in the surrounding community by the nickname ‘Beslan Haruty’, and he has a prior criminal record for hooliganism and stabbing. He is also known by a second name, not just ‘Beslan Haruty’, but ‘Bacil Haruty’. Should he be apprehended, he will be transferred to the Nubarashen Penitentiary of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia.