Police General Denies Abuse Of Power

General Levon Yeranosian, the controversial former commander of Armenian interior troops, denied any wrongdoing on Wednesday after being charged with using excessive force against opposition protesters in April.

The Special Investigative Service (SIS) brought the accusations of abuse of power after interrogating Yeranosian late on Tuesday.

They stem from two violent incidents that occurred during anti-government demonstrations that were led by Nikol Pashinian.

On April 16, Pashinian and hundreds of his supporters tried to break through a police cordon and approach the parliament building in Yerevan in a bid to prevent the country’s longtime leader, Serzh Sarkisian, from holding on to power. Security forces used stun grenades and batons to stop the crowd.

In a statement, the SIS said that Yeranosian personally threw four stun grenades in a way that violated safety standards set for such “special means” of crowd control. More than 40 persons, among them six police servicemen, were injured as a result, said the law-enforcement agency.

According to the statement, Yeranosian again mishandled stun grenades on April 22 when Pashinian and his top associates were detained while leading another demonstration elsewhere in Yerevan. The SIS claimed that the feared police general was not qualified to use the Russian-made explosive devices.

Yeranosian’s lawyer, Tigran Safarian, said his client categorically denies the accusations. Safarian defended the use of force against protesters, saying that it prevented clashes with security forces from degenerating into “mass riots.” He said some protesters assaulted riot police officers.

“Mr. Yeranosian briefly testified that the situation was such that there were grounds and conditions for using the special means, and so they were used,” the lawyer told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

The nationwide protests only intensified following Pashinian’s arrest, leading forcing Sarkisian to resign on April 23. His resignation was announced shortly before the release of all arrested oppositionists.

Pashinian fired Yeranosian just days after being elected prime minister on May 8. Armenian human rights groups and media have for years accused the general of serious human rights violations. In particular, he was accused of personally sanctioning violent attacks on journalists that covered anti-government protests in 2015 and 2016.