IMPOSSIBLE WITH TWO KNIFE STABS
ZARUHI MEJLUMYAN

Lragir.am
06/05/10

Chief of Police Alik Sargsyan, who spread misinformation about Vahan
Khalafyan’s death, had to have resigned long ago, said today, the
head of the Vanadzor office of Helsinki civil assembly Artur Sakunts.

Sakunts continued saying that a suicide with two knife stabs is
impossible. The Police chief promised to reveal and punish those
guilty, but the second police official named Garik charged in this
case is still in freedom.

Sakunts stated that the Police Chief had to resign immediately. More,
no police official condoled with Khalafyan’s family. As to the
circumstances of death of Vahan Khalafyan, law enforcers expressed
their doubt that without the results of the medical examination, the
police chief and the prosecutor general affirm that it was a suicide.

Human right defender Artur Sakunts and head of "Reporters for human
rights" organization Janna Aleksanyan have been to Charentsavan
and talked to the relatives of one of the other arrested youths –
David Gyulumyan.

Artur Sakunts underlined today that not only against Vahan but also
against the other youths violence was used, but the impression is
that they try to concentrate the incident in Charentsavan only on
Vahan’s death.

David’s relatives said the Charentsavan police station has been
terrorizing this poor family since 2003. They say David used not to go
home for days not to meet Tonoyan, the deputy chief of Charentsavan
police station, who enters their house whenever he wants and looks
for David.

"If something happens to the family of David Gyulumyan or they
renounce from their testimonies, the whole responsibility will fall
on the pre-investigative body", stated Sakunts.

As to the investigative body, Sakunts says that it learnt that
two other youths were brought to the police department only later,
but it could do it much earlier. Those youths were given back their
passports and left Armenia, while they were supposed to give important
testimonies because they were in the next room to the one where Vahan
was kept and beaten up.

Sakunts says Investigative body was to find out the reason why these
youths were kept in police for 12-15 hours and violence was used
against them. No case in connection with this violence was brought up.

The human rights defender informed that two of the citizens brought
to Charentsavan police station on April 13 were freed and they are
no more in Armenia, three of them are under arrest.