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He threatened a convict to fabricate charges against him.

As reported previously, the Group of Public Observers Conducting Public Monitoring of Penitentiary Institutions and Bodies of the RA Ministry of Justice had informed about the continuous threats against ‘Vanadzor’ penitentiary convict K. S. by a penitentiary officer, who, according to the convict, particularly threatened “to fabricate charges” against him. The Group of Observes requested the RA Ministry of Justice to transfer the convict to another penitentiary institution, but no steps were taken in terms of the request, and some time later K. S. withdrew his complaint. Based on the information obtained, on September 12, 2015, HCA Vanadzor filed a crime report to the RA SIS. In response to the report, on September 29 the RA SIS decreed to reject initiating criminal proceedings due to the absence of corpus delicti of exceeding official authorities under Article 309 (actions willfully committed by an official which obviously exceed his/her authorities and caused essential damage to the rights of citizens, organizations, state or legal interests) of the RA Criminal Code. On October 12, 2015, HCA Vanadzor submitted a complaint to the RA Prosecutor General to annul the decree of RA Special Investigation Service investigator V. Minasyan of September 29, 2015 on rejecting initiation of criminal proceedings. The Organization found that within the proceedings, the preliminary investigation agency did not examine any of the circumstances of the crime provided under the crime report, which the Organization considered as intent to conceal the crime. In response, the RA SIS reported that on October 9, 2015, E. Aramyan, Prosecutor at High-Profile Cases Investigation Department of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office, decreed to annul the decree of September 29, 2015 on rejecting initiation of criminal proceedings and initiate criminal proceedings under Article 309(1) of the RA Criminal Code. Convict K. S. has not been declared as a victim and no advocate has been involved under the proceedings yet. In fact, the RA Special Investigation Service, in spite of having every reason to initiate criminal proceedings upon receiving the crime report of HCA Vanadzor, initiated such proceedings only after the Organization submitted a complaint. Now we hope for a fair investigation, so that convict K. S. never again has to renounce the protection of his rights.