Younger nephew of Archbishop Aghapanyan detained, brutally beaten, released only recently: 'Hraparak'

The newspaper 'Hraparak' reports: 'On February 23, police forces dispatched from Yerevan to Gyumri detained the nephew of the spiritual leader of the Shirak Diocese, Archbishop Mikael Aghapanyan. The 31-year-old was taken into custody allegedly as part of an operation against drugs. He was brutally beaten in the 'political section' of Shirak, and only then was he released.'

Aghapanyan confirmed this information in a conversation with us and shared further details: 'They came from Yerevan, from some special department, conducting an operation against drugs, and rounded up 15-20 people from the city, including my nephew. Naturally, they terrorized family members before dawn and then beat him. This was done by the police from Yerevan; the police in Gyumri had nothing to do with it.'

Aghapanyan's nephew is a professional architect. We inquired whether this incident was related to his sharp criticism of the authorities. 'You should ask them... If 15-20 people are detained but only one is beaten, how do you interpret that?'”