ArmInfo. Samvel Vardanyan, detained for "hooliganism" and accused of insulting Armenian MP Hakob Aslanyan, was taken from the pre-trial detention center to the capital's department of the Investigative Committee, lawyer Ruben Melikyan said on Facebook live.
According to him, taking into account the incident with the beating of Vardanyan on the night of April 16, a group of opposition figures, including some deputies and members of the Council of Elders, came to the building of the pre-trial detention center in Erebuni in the morning. This was done to ensure the safety of its transportation.
As Melikyan noted, the Investigative Committee should have initiated a criminal case based on media publications that Vardanyan was tortured, but this did not happen.
The lawyer emphasized that Samvel Vardanyan is not a member of any party and was a participant in the 44-day war. He is just a person with opposition views, Melikyan noted.
Samvel Vardanyan, recognizing the pro-government deputy Aslanyan riding on the bus, threw in his face "Anti-Armenian bastard, he decided to go public." These words aroused the anger of the deputy, who rudely demanded to give him the way, and then attacked the young man with his fists and knocked the phone out of his hands. Vardanyan was detained and charged with hooliganism, although, according to the human rights activist, there are no signs of hooliganism. According to the defense, this is a "strict condemnation."
On April 16, during a 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.