INVESTIGATORS SAY SUICIDE ‘POSSIBLE’ CAUSE OF POLICE CUSTODY DEATH
Emil Danielyan

rticle/2042561.html
14.05.2010

A law-enforcement body investigating the recent suspicious death of
a man in Armenian police custody on Friday appeared to have moved
closer to endorsing police claims that it was the result of a suicide,
rather than torture.

In a written statement, the Special Investigative Service (SIS) said
forensic experts have concluded that Vahan Khalafian, a resident of
the central town of Charentsavan, may have stabbed himself to death
at the local police station.

Khalafian and several other young men were detained by the Charentsavan
police on April 13 on suspicion of stealing 1.5 million drams ($3,900)
worth of goods from a local entrepreneur. The 24-year-old was found
dead several hours later.

The Armenian police and their chief Alik Sargsian in particular claimed
that he was not ill-treated during the interrogation and committed
suicide. However, the SIS called this version of events into question
by arresting two police officers and charging them with torture.

Sargsian admitted later in April misleading the public about the
scandalous case, saying he himself was "deceived" by his subordinates
into believing that Khalafian was not beaten up in detention. Still,
the police chief insisted that Khalafian killed himself with a kitchen
knife kept in a policeman’s drawer.

In their final report cited by the SIS, state forensic medics who
examined Khalafian’s body confirmed that they found two stab wounds on
the dead man’s abdomen. They said the nature of those wounds and their
"anatomic location" suggest that "their infliction by V. Khalafian
upon himself is possible."

The experts also found numerous injuries in various parts of his body.

But they said none of those were life-threatening.

That Khalafian sustained two knife wounds was earlier reported by
members of his family and Artur Sakunts, a human rights activist
investigating his death. They believe that he could not have stabbed
himself twice and was simply tortured to death.

The forensic experts said in that regard that only one of the stab
wounds is likely to have been deadly, a conclusion that may well be
seized upon by the police.

The SIS, which is directly subordinated to Armenian prosecutors,
did not specify on Friday whether it itself has already arrived at
any conclusion as to the precise cause of Khalafian’s death. "The
investigation is continuing," concluded it statement.

Nor did the law-enforcement body say whether it has succeeded in
locating two other Charentsavan men who were also detained on April
13 for the same reason but were set free the next day. Norayr Chilian
and Arayik Arakelian left Armenia just days later.

Sakunts claimed last week that the police forced Chilian and Arakelian
to go abroad to prevent their embarrassing witness accounts of
torture. The SIS implicitly denies these claims. It said SIS
investigators are now trying to contact and question the two witnesses.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress