There has been a clash after the trial on Vahan Khalafyan’s death case
00:00, July 6, 2010 | News | Right to be free from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to Fair Trial | Police
Today, on July 6, the first court session of Vahan Khalafyan’s case took place in the Court of Common Jurisdiction of Kotayk region.
Artur Sakunts, the head of HCA Vanadzor, informed NEWS.am about this, mentioning that the trial went on in a rather tense atmosphere. According to him, the policemen in the court yard had a strict control, and the judicial inspectors checked all the people entering the court. At today’s session the advocate of Khalafyan’s assignee was not present for valid reason.
Khalafyan’s assignee, Hasmik Khalafyan, made a solicitation to involve another advocate, Artak Zeynalyan, as the representative of the injured party’s assignee. Harutyun Harutyunyan, is the prosecutor of the case from the prosecutor’s office general.
The court session has been postponed till July 15, 3 p. m. to give a proper explanation to the involvement of the assignee’s representative. Artur Sakunts also told that after the trial there was a clash between Khalafyan’s relatives and Ashot Harutyunyan, defendant and his relatives. “Khalafyan’s relatives could not hide their emotions, and Ashot Harutyunyan did not behave adequately as if he was not the defendant” – mentioned Sakunts. By the way, Seda Safaryan is Ashot Harutyunyan’s advocate.
It is worth mentioning that four policemen are accused with the case. Only one of them, Ashot Harutyunyan, the head of the Criminal Investigation department of Charentsavan police station, is detained. He has been accused of exceeding his official authorizations, for which the Crminal Code defines 6-10 years of imprisonment.
The other three policemen, Garik Davtyan, Gagik Ghazaryan, and Moris Hayrapetyan, are in freedom: as precautionary measure they signed not leave the country. They are accused of exceeding their official authorizations, for which The Criminal Code defines either a penalty or imprisonment till 4 years.
Vahan Khalafyan was brought to Charenstavan police station on April 13 of this year on suspicion of robbery. On the same day Khalafyan died in the police station. According to the official version, he was subjected to torture, because of which he committed a suicide with a knife. Whereas, Khalafyan’s relatives claim that he was killed by the policemen.