Armenian court sentences two former policemen for forcing false confession

.c The Associated Press

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – An Armenian court on Monday sentenced two former
policemen to three years in prison for violently forcing a suspect to falsely
confess to raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl. But the two were freed
immediately under an amnesty.

Ruben Saakian and Gurgen Arushanian also were stripped of the right to work
as police officers for violently coercing suspect Armen Pogosian to confess
to the charges, which landed him 15 years in prison.

After five years, prosecutors established the crime had been committed by
another man, Pogosian was freed, and the two officers were fired.

They received amnesty because their 1998 crime fell under an amnesty
declared in 2001 to mark the 1,700th anniversary of Armenia’s adoption of
Christianity.

06/20/05 03:15 EDT