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No one has been brought to criminal liability so far under the criminal proceedings initiated a year ago on the acts of violence by the police against the participants of ‘Electric Yerevan’ movement.

Photo by etatist.com

On the night of June 23, 2015, the RA Police used water cannon to disperse the peaceful demonstration held against the electricity price hike by ‘Voch Talanin’ (‘No to Plunder’) civil initiative. A number of journalists and assembly participants on Baghramyan Avenue, Liberty Square and in adjacent areas suffered violence accompanied by bodily injuries and deliberate destruction of the video-recording equipment and hindrance of their professional activities.

Due to the excessive force used, dozens of protesters and journalists were taken to hospitals, and hundreds of protesters were apprehended.

The apprehended persons were illegally deprived of liberty and questioned in a status of a witness upon being kept at police stations for over 4 hours; their mobile phones were confiscated.

Dozens of persons apprehended were transferred to the Republican Narcological Clinic to undergo expert examinations.

The activities of the lawyers who visited police stations to provide legal aid to the persons apprehended were obstructed (for a long time, they were given no opportunity to meet their clients). The persons apprehended were released only in separate groups after lengthy negotiations.

On the very day of the incidents above, HCA Vanadzor filed a crime report; based on the report, the RA Special Investigation Service initiated criminal proceedings on July 2, 2015 on “abuse of power coupled with violence, obstructing a journalist’s professional legal activities by officials with abuse of their official powers, deliberate damaging or destruction of the property of others”.   

Under the criminal proceedings, only 1 investigator was involved initially, whereas the preliminary investigation of the criminal proceedings against the protesters was carried out by an investigative group of 20 investigators, which extended later to include 53 investigators.

31 persons were declared victims, including 18 representatives of the mass media. Some of the latter have not been summoned to questioning so far; only some journalists received compensation.

Some months after initiating the criminal proceedings, an investigative group of 4 members was announced to be set up within the proceedings; however, the group had no significant role in ensuring effective investigation into the case.

Throughout the preliminary investigation lasting for over a year, charges were brought against no one, and the RA Special Investigation Service discloses no information on the progress in the investigation into the case.