Lawyer accuses Armenia`s Investigative Committee of indifference to  police violence 

ArmInfo. Artsakh lawyer Roman Yeritsyan accused the Investigative Committee of Armenia of showing a frivolous and passive approach to reports of torture of citizens by  police officers.

According to him, in most cases, the Investigative Committee cites  the lack of official statements or evidence as an excuse, and  sometimes even refers to a "non-working day".

In this vein, he noted that he himself contacted the Investigative  Committee of Armenia regarding the beating of 28-year-old participant  in the Artsakh wars Tigran Ulubabyan, who became a victim of violence  by police officers in Vanadzor.

"Nevertheless, despite the apparent grounds for arrest, at the moment  we do not have a detained police officer, nor even an initiated  criminal case or, at least, interest from the Investigative  Committee. Instead, we receive absurd explanations: allegedly they  did not receive the message," Yeritsyan noted.

The lawyer pointed out the presence of double standards in initiating  criminal cases by law enforcement agencies. For clarity, he cited the  example of the arrest of the mayor of Stepanakert, the incident with  the pensioner who threw an apple at Armenian Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan, the confiscation of cars brought by Artsakh residents and  the detention of demonstrators on June 12, hinting that such cases  are investigated more actively.

"The Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor's Office do not care  that an orphan boy, the son of a deceased serviceman and a  participant in three wars, is illegally held in a police station for  seven hours, subjected to beatings and humiliation. All this is  happening only because he does not agree to take responsibility for  the robbery. At the same time, the 28-year-old woman who suffered  from this crime is more worried about Tigran Ulubabyan's health than  about her own well-being and the safety of her two- year-old child,"  Yeritsyan said.

The lawyer recalled that the Investigative Committee of Armenia even  has a department for investigating crimes related to torture and  abuse of office. In this regard, Yeritsyan called on investigators to  fulfill their duties and once again emphasized the need to hold  accountable the police officers involved in the torture of Tigran  Ulubabyan. He emphasized that the impunity of the police gives rise  to new and more serious crimes.

Roman Yeritsyan also reported that the video that was distributed on  the same day, where a young man with an Artsakh flag in his pocket is  seen being taken away from a police station by an ambulance, has  nothing to do with the case of Tigran Ulubabyan. According to him,  this is a different case.

After the uproar in the press, the Armenian Ombudsman Anahit Manasyan  responded to the situation, calling it alarming and assuring that  such cases are under the direct attention of the human rights  defender.

Earlier the lawyer reported on his page that in the city of Vanadzor,  two armed masked men illegally entered an apartment rented by an  Artsakh family, threatened to kill first a 28-year-old woman, then  her young child, and stole jewelry from the house. In connection with  the incident, the victim, together with her relative, 28-year-old  Tigran Ulubabyan, contacted the police. As the lawyer said, at the  police station, Tigran was taken to the chief's office, where he was  urged to take responsibility for the robbery. Having received a sharp  and negative response, the chief of the department instructed the  police to "process" Tigran. After 7 hours of illegal detention at the  police station, Tigran was released, urging him not to tell anyone  about what happened. Yeritsyan also reported that Tigran is receiving  threats against the background of an attempt to publicize the details  of the robbery that took place.

Tigran Ulubabyan's father and brother were killed in Artsakh, and his  mother died. Although Tigran is the only son in the family, he  participated in the four-day, 44-day and recent Artsakh wars.