POLICE OFFICER APPARENTLY RECOGNIZED PASHINYAN’S LEG AMONG 150 PEOPLE

Tert
Oct 26 2009
Armenia

At the Court of First Instance of Shengavit Community of Yerevan,
well-known police officer and a plaintiff in the case Vazgen Dabaghyan
was interrogated during political prisoner Nikol Pashinyan’s case.

Dabaghyan described what happened on October 23, 2007, at the
intersection of Abovyan and Koryun streets during the opposition’s
march.

Dabaghyan said he received instructions to go there from his
superiors. Reaching the intersection, he saw 150 people, who, according
to the police officer, hindered traffic, brought about congestion,
and blocked pedestrians’ route to cross the street. Thus, Dabaghyan
surmised, police officers pushed people to the wall, and then a
skirmish began between police officers and march participants.

The police officer also added that in the chaos that ensued, Pashinyan
kicked him. The course of the smooth story drastically changed,
however, when Pashinyan and his attorney Lusine Sahakyan began to
cross-examine the witness.

The police officer was unable to respond to the attorney’s questions of
where people had gathered, why they were pushed to the wall, whether
there was a congestion or not. Dabaghyan was contradicting himself,
stating different things at different times.

When Pashinyan asked how the plaintiff saw him, the latter answered
by saying he recalled how Pashinyan was waving a megaphone in one
hand, while his other hand was similarly waving in the air; however,
a little while later, Dabaghyan said that Pashinyan was pushing and
pulling police officers with the other hand, which elicited laughter
among those in the courtroom.

And during that time, according to the plaintiff, Pashinyan kicked
him. Asked by the political prisoner whether, at the time of the
alleged kick, Pashinyan was alone, the plaintiff said there were many
people there and it was a chaotic situation.

Pashinyan asked in that case how the plaintiff could recognize his leg
or shoe among the 150 people the plaintiff mentioned. Nevertheless,
the plaintiff insisted he saw how Pashinyan kicked him. The witness
was unable to answer numerous other questions.

After the examination, the judge said the court session will be
postponed till October 28 in order to notify witnesses. Vardan
Vardanyan, Karen Grigoryan and Vazgen Serobyan will be examined on
that day.