The Ministry of Internal Affairs Clarifies the Incident of Police Beating an Armenian from Artsakh

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia has issued a clarification regarding an incident involving Arman Yeritsyan, the brother of Artsakh lawyer Roman Yeritsyan. The details are as follows:

“On August 1, a user on the 'Facebook' social media platform published a video titled 'About 10 patrol officers brutally beat my brother under the pretext of parking in a supposedly forbidden place, and he was taken to the police station with various fractures.' The post also claimed that the brother had 'fractures in his hand and toe fingers.'

After the publication, some users on social media noted that 'the violence was accompanied by numerous insults not only directed at the mentioned man but also towards all from Artsakh.'

A service investigation has been conducted by the internal security and anti-corruption division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, examining video recordings from both the patrol officers and surveillance cameras in the vicinity. It has been clarified that during the arrest on reasonable suspicion and the transfer to the Arabkir police department, the mentioned individual was not subjected to beating, he has no fractures, and no insulting remarks were directed at him or the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. Furthermore, the arrest was carried out not by 10 patrol officers, as stated in the publication, but by one squad consisting of two officers.

During the arrest, the man delivered blows and resisted the patrol officers. A criminal case has been initiated regarding the incident.

Some users have spread blatantly false information that bears no relation to reality, presumably aiming to target the Patrol Service, mislead the public, and create an impression that the police have a particularly negative attitude towards our compatriots forcibly displaced from Artsakh.

We urge to refrain from disseminating false and manipulative information, which, in some cases, aims to divide society.

The police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs perform their functions as prescribed by law, without discrimination. Armenia is a legal state where all are equal before the law.”