Lawyer: The Republic of Armenia is responsible for the death of a person in custody

ArmInfo. The Republic of Armenia bears primary responsibility for the death of a person in custody. Lawyer Aram Orbelyan stated this at a press conference in Yerevan on November 11, responding to the death of Arsen Gevorgyan, a candidate for the post of head of the Stepanavan community from the Strong Armenia party, in the Nubarashen penitentiary institution.

He emphasized that the question of a person's guilt or innocence is irrelevant when it comes to their death in custody: such cases, he said, are unacceptable under any circumstances. "One gets the impression that the death penalty has been reinstated in Armenia." "Meanwhile, in such cases, it is unacceptable to even raise the question of choosing a preventive measure in the form of arrest," the lawyer emphasized.

Orbelyan also drew attention to the established practice of mutual transfer of responsibility between various government agencies. According to him, each tries to prove their innocence, citing that they were only fulfilling their immediate duties. "However, in such circumstances, the Republic of Armenia bears primary responsibility, since it is the state that exercises control over the person in custody. There are two situations in which state responsibility is particularly significant: the death of a person in a correctional facility and the death of a service member during service. In both cases, we are talking about people whose lives and safety are under the direct responsibility of the state," Orbelyan emphasized.

In turn, the head of the Armenia faction, Anna Grigoryan, noted that the wave of repression in Armenia is only gaining momentum. In her opinion, these developments indicate the deepening of the country's authoritarian system of governance. "It is in this context that the arrest of Armenia's second president, Robert Kocharyan, and his son, Sedrak Kocharyan, whose detention was extended for another two months, should also be viewed. This is despite the fact that no convincing justification was presented to justify their continued detention," the opposition leader emphasized.

According to the faction leader, this is the second recent death of a person imprisoned for political reasons. In this regard, she recalled the death of producer and public figure Armen Grigoryan during a court hearing. "Since this person was under the complete control of the state, it is the state that is responsible for ensuring his life and safety," Grigoryan emphasized.

The opposition leader also addressed the actions of Judge Aram Grigoryan, who heard Arsen Gevorgyan's case and chose pretrial detention as a preventive measure. According to the faction leader, the judge could not have been unaware of the political context of the case. In this regard, she stated that all those involved in making such decisions will sooner or later be held accountable for their actions within the law. "Arsen Gevorgyan's death is a tragedy from which conclusions must be drawn. The Prosecutor General, judges, and all responsible officials must draw these conclusions. They must understand that sooner or later they will have to bear responsibility for what is happening," Grigoryan emphasized.

The head of the Armenia faction She also cited statistics showing that 87 people have died in Armenian correctional facilities over the past five years, four of them in 2026 alone. "For the current government, judging by the lack of necessary conclusions and systemic changes, these cases remain just statistics. Meanwhile, each of the deceased was under the control of the state, which was obligated to ensure their safety," the opposition leader concluded.

Earlier, the party's head of communications and public relations, Nelly Avetisyan, confirmed to ArmInfo that Arsen Gevorkyan died in the pre-trial detention facility. According to preliminary information, he suffered a heart attack. The penitentiary reported that Gevorkyan became ill at 7:55 a.m., and doctors confirmed his death at 8:30 a.m. The authorities assured that Gevorkyan had not previously complained of health problems. A criminal case has been opened in connection with the death of the opposition figure. The ruling party, in response to Gevorgyan's death, merely stated that there was nothing wrong with the incident, as at least four people die of heart attacks every day. The Armenian opposition, in turn, placed full responsibility for Gevorgyan's death on the government, led by Nikol Pashinyan.

As a reminder, on October 21, the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia opened a criminal case against Arsen Gevorgyan, who headed the proportional list of the Strong Armenia party in the Stepanavan Municipal Council elections, and 13 other individuals. It was later announced that a court had sentenced Gevorgyan to two months' detention. Five more individuals were placed under two-month arrest or house arrest. It's worth noting that the day before these events, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan offered to write to him personally to citizens and candidates for community heads in the local government elections who were under pressure from the ruling "Civil Contract" party. However, by the evening of that same day, he himself began threatening opposition representatives. It's worth noting that all of this occurred before the local government elections in Stepanavan.