Videos of the incident showed several dozen members of a special police unit punching, kicking and swearing at the lawmaker, Ashot Simonian, outside the Yerevan headquarters of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), a major opposition party involved in the protests led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian.
The Armenian Interior Ministry claimed to have launched on May 27 an “internal inquiry” into the policemen’s behavior that drew strong condemnation from opposition leaders and human rights campaigners. The ministry said hours later that one of the officers was suspended as a result. It has since reported no disciplinary action against other policemen involved in the violence.
Law-enforcement authorities subsequently opened a criminal case in connection with the incident. They have not charged anyone so far.
“This is telling evidence of the fact that the authorities are not intent on administering justice in this country,” Simonian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Wednesday. “It’s very clear, isn’t it?”
Simonian, who is affiliated with Dashnaktsutyun, described the police and other law-enforcement agencies as “servants” of the Armenian government who help Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian stay in power. It would be “naïve” to expect punishment for human rights abuses committed by them, he said.
Simonian was beaten up as riot police unblocked streets in Yerevan closed by protesters demanding Pashinian’s resignation. About 300 of them were arrested that day. According to Dashnaktsutyun, the lawmaker was assaulted because he stopped the special police squad from “illegally” entering the party headquarters.
Dozens of other, ordinary protesters have also been seriously injured by the police since Archbishop Galstanian launched his campaign for regime change on May 9. No policeman has been suspend, let alone prosecuted, over those incidents.
The authorities have prosecuted instead 59 supporters of Galstanian on various charges denied by them. Twenty-nine of them are currently under arrest pending investigation.