Case of K. Harutyunyan who died at ‘Erebuni’ Medical Center appealed to Prosecutor General’s Office
17:48, November 24, 2015 | News, Own news | Right to an Effective Remedy of Legal Protection, Right to LifeOn August 31, 2015, Gagik Tadevosyan from Surenavan village, Ararat Marz (Region), consulted HCA Vanadzor. He said that on August 17, a snake bit his mother, Karine Harutyunyan, in their yard. She was immediately taken to ‘Ararat Hospital’ Medical Center. Then after receiving no adequate medical care for hours, she was taken to ‘Erebuni’ Medical Center and died there from acute autointoxication and multiple organ failure. Upon the application of the person above, on September 3, 2015, the Organization filed a crime report with RA Prosecutor General G. Kostanyan requiring to initiate criminal proceedings to reveal the causes and circumstances of K. Harutyunyan’s death, detect signs of corpus delicti in the actions of the medical staff of ‘Ararat Hospital’ and ‘Erebuni’ Medical Centers and the presence or absence of causal relationship in their actions/inaction and K. Harutyunyan’s death and to take relevant measures to restore K. Harutyunyan’s violated rights. The response letter stated that back on August 30, 2015, it was decreed to dismiss initiation of criminal proceedings based on the materials prepared by the Investigative Division of Erebuni and Nubarashen administrative districts of Yerevan Investigative Department, RA Investigative Committee. On October 14, 2015, a letter was submitted to S. Matevosyan, Head of the Investigative Division of Erebuni and Nubarashen administrative districts of Yerevan Investigative Department, RA Investigative Committee to provide a copy of the decree on dismissing initiation of criminal proceedings dated August 30, 2015. The copy provided on November 2, 2015 stated that the decree was based on the absence of crime. G. Tadevosyan appealed this decree to RA Prosecutor General G. Kostanyan requesting to annul the decree on dismissing initiation of criminal proceedings of G. Mghdesyan, Senior Investigator at the Investigative Division of Erebuni and Nubarashen administrative districts of Yerevan Investigative Department, RA Investigative Committee dated August 30, 2015 and to initiate criminal proceedings under Article 130(2) /failure to fulfill or properly fulfill professional duties by medical and support personnel, which caused through negligence the patient’s death/ finding that the investigating agency failed to carry out complete, impartial and comprehensive investigation, which hindered revealing the actual circumstances of K. Harutyunyan’s death and therefore violated her right to life as enshrined in Article 15 of the RA Constitution and Article 2 of the European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It should be added that G. Tadevosyan should have been also informed of the investigating agency’s decree on dismissing initiation of criminal proceedings. However, as mentioned above, he learnt about it only after consulting HCA Vanadzor as it filed a crime report with the RA Prosecutor General’s Office. Also, the investigating agency was obliged to have clearly specified the appeal procedure and deadline, but it failed to do so. As for the appeal body, a court of law was wrongly indicated, whereas Article 185(3) of the RA Criminal Procedure Code exactly specifies that following a complaint on dismissal of initiating criminal proceedings, the higher prosecutor shall within 7 days upon its receipt annul the decree appealed against, initiate criminal proceedings and send it to the prosecutor for preliminary investigation, or shall confirm the legitimacy of dismissing initiation of criminal proceedings. Therefore, in this case the decree on dismissing initiation of criminal proceedings shall be filed with the senior prosecutor before filing a complaint to a court of law.