The Nagorno-Karabakh-born man, Aram Yeritsian, claimed to have been beaten up by officers of the Patrol Service during an altercation on Thursday. According to his lawyer, Ruben Melikian, Yeritsian agreed to be taken to a police station in the city’s Arabkir district but “legitimately objected” when they decided to handcuff him.
“That’s when they started using force against him,” Melikian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Yeritsian’s brother Roman, who is also a lawyer, posted on social media pictures of the man’s injured hands purportedly taken at the police station. Roman Yeritsian claimed that the officers also hit Aram in the head, sprayed him with tear gas and insulted Karabakh Armenians during the arrest.
Representatives of Armenia’s Office of the Human Rights Defender visited Yeritsian in police custody later on Thursday. One of them, Aram Minasian, said the suspect showed them “injuries in different parts of his body.” Minasian also revealed that the Arabkir police called up an ambulance to provide medical aid to the suspect.
Nevertheless, the Armenian Interior Ministry on Friday claimed that Yeritsian was not beaten up and that he himself assaulted the policemen during his arrest. It indicated that this is corroborated by videos of the incident filmed by police body cameras and CCTV. The ministry did not release that footage, however.
“If the video doesn't emerge, it will mean that the [arrested] person is telling the truth,” Melikian said in this regard. His client remained in police custody but was not formally charged as of Friday evening.
The lawyer said the incident highlights impunity enjoyed by the Armenian police, especially in their handling of antigovernment protests and vocal critics of the government. An opposition lawmaker, Ashot Simonian, was punched and kicked by several dozen policemen during such protests in May.
Human rights groups say that ill-treatment of criminal suspects also remains widespread in Armenia despite sweeping law-enforcement reforms promised by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government. Police officers are still rarely prosecuted or fired for such offenses.
The Patrol Service, which was set up in 2021 with financial and technical assistance provided by the United States and the European Union, is also no stranger to torture allegations. In November 2022, its officers clashed with several residents of the northern city of Vanadzor after accusing them of interfering with Pashinian’s motorcade. One of those residents was hospitalized as a result.
