Human rights activist: policemen beat and tortured citizen by order  of Armenia`s ruling political force

ArmInfo. The beating of citizen Samvel Vardanyan was organized by the ruling political force  in Armenia, the "Civil Contract". Human rights activist, ex-Ombudsman of Artsakh Ruben Melikyan stated on April 16 during a specially convened press conference.

Earlier, Samvel Vardanyan was detained on suspicion of hooliganism  after an altercation with an MP from the ruling Civil Contract  faction Hakob Aslanyan. Video footage of the incident in one of the  city buses shows that a Samvel Vardanyan sitting on the bus,  recognizing Aslanyan, known for his odious statements, called him an  " Anti-Armenian bastard".

The human rights activist noted that the basis for such an outcome  -the order from the "Civil Contract" to beat, was the statement  voiced by Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, after the  incident.  Melikyan emphasized that law enforcement agencies are  accomplices in the crime.

As a result, Samvel Vardanyan was detained and charged with  hooliganism, although, according to the human rights activist, there  are no signs of hooliganism. According to Melikyan, this is a "severe  condemnation."

During the press conference, Vardanyan's lawyer Varazdat Harutyunyan  said that on the way from the Investigative Committee to the  pre-trial detention center, the latter was severely beaten by 3  masked policemen. Presenting the details of the beating with the  permission of the victim, Harutyunyan noted that such an attitude can  only be found in Baku prisons towards Armenian prisoners.  "A minute  and a half later, as the car set off from the Investigative Committee  in the direction of the pre- trial detention center, 2 police  officers in civilian clothes stopped the car, saying that they  allegedly wanted to relieve themselves. After 3 people in masks took  Vardanyan out of the car, taking him to a deserted dark place. 

They forced him to kneel, hit his head on the ground and started  beating him. This entire process was accompanied by obscene language  that belittled a person's dignity. Moreover, the masked people forced  Samvel to repeat this abuse against himself. After he refuses, they  start spitting on him. And here it is important to note that Samvel's  hands were handcuffed behind his back. Next, the police pulled down  Samvel's pants and put a baton between his legs. We heard something  like this only from our boys who returned from Azerbaijani captivity

Melikyan noted that the Investigative Committee has not yet opened a  criminal case in this case, explaining this by the fact that it has  not received any reports. However, as the human rights activist  noted, media reports and this press conference already serve as the  basis for initiating a criminal case.  Human rights activists called  on all citizens of Armenia to take this issue as a personal one,  since, given the style of the authorities, something like this can  happen to anyone. They noted that all facts will be presented to  international organizations. In particular, tomorrow Melikyan and  Harutyunyan will hold a meeting at the EU Delegation to Armenia.

Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan, commenting on the  incident, in particular, wrote:  "Today, one nonentity allowed  himself a hooligan act against the 69-year-old member of the National  Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Hakob Aslanyan, who, by the way,  is a participant in three wars.  This hooligan act very quickly will  receive the strictest reaction from the law, let no one doubt it."  This is not the first time when clashes occur between citizens and  representatives of the ruling force. And, as a rule, it is not the  public officials who get off their hands and sometimes do other  actions clearly unbecoming of a public official, but the citizens who  dared to say something to them, who end up behind bars.

Thus, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan, who commented on this  incident, was previously himself a participant in a similar incident.  In particular, he spat on a citizen after he called him a "traitor"  and did not bear any responsibility for these actions. But the  citizen who called him a "traitor" was immediately detained.

In addition, last month blogger Narek Samsonyan was harshly detained  and is now in a pre-trial detention center only for daring to speak  obscenely at the current Prime Minister of Armenia.