On March 5, 2010, Criminal Court of Appeals will discuss the motion of the Prosecutor's office to select detention as a preventive measure towards two employees of the road police. This is a unique case in Armenian reality, when the Prosecutor's office (together with Special Investigatory Service) tries to curb the policemen, even to enforce the sanction of detention.

Filing a complaint in the Court of Appeal, the Prosecutor's office has substantiated the necessity to detain agents of road police. What position Criminal Court of Appeals will take upon, we will be informed today. This is the same court upon the decision of which the real victims have been detained before.

"The police investigating the case have tried to protect police employees by all means, even with the price of condemning and detaining innocent people", says the attorney Lusine Sahakyan, who protects the interests of the policemen who have undergone violence, pointing out that "Special Investigatory Service has implemented objective investigation".

On June 27 last year, on Paronyan street two Police employees H. Janyan and A. Chukhajyan approached the place where Arthur Hakobyan had parked his car (whom they knew) and started to talk to him. Shortly afterwards Arthur Hakobyan's friend Artak Musayelyan joined them, who was chosen as a target by Road Police employees. At first they started to quarrel then they called other employees through radio communication, swore, threatened and beat him.

But employees of road police were not satisfied with it and through violence took Musayelyan to the Central Department of Police and beat him brutally. Arthur Hakobyan, who came to the police department following his friend, also underwent cruel beatings.

The situation was such that Musayelyan and Hakobyan were taken to "Armenia" Medical Centre by the ambulance, where the doctors insisted that they received treatment in hospital. The doctors even managed to register information about the received injuries, as well as describe the health state in the recording book on the history of the illness, but the policemen did not allow it, and took Musayelyan and Hakobyan from hospital forcefully.

And even though Hakobyan and Musayelyan were victims in the criminal case, they were arrested instead of the policemen, who exerted violence towards them (in the pre-trial arrest centre two times ambulance was called, as the latter's state was very serious).

On the same day in the Central Investigatory Service of Investigatory Main Department  of RA police a criminal case was brought forward under 1st part of Article 316 about the case of violence, not dangerous for life and health against the policemen by Hakobyan and Musayelyan. These policemen had presented reports on criminal cases about the violence exerted towards them. As a result Hakobyan and Musayelyan were detained. 

It turned out that as a result of a resistance towards the policemen the latter had got a number of corporal injuries. Hakobyan had received two fractures of nose bones, and Musayelyan concussion of a brain.

Today Musayelyan and Hakobyan have already been released, and an accusation was brought against road policemen Chukhajyan and Janyan, as well as two other policemen who "had come to help" by the latter's call for exceeding official authorities under 2nd part of Article 309 of RA Criminal code.

RA Special Investigatory service submitted a motion to select detention as a preventive measure towards Chukhajyan and Janyan, but the court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork Marash administrative districts declined.  

We should also mention that this is not the first case in the "career" of these policemen who do not have a long work experience.
Last year in January these same policemen did not like that the driver fined by them was shooting them on phone. It was enough for them to attack and beat the driver who was shooting and the passenger. 

The police have brought a criminal case regarding this issue again and the policemen were recognized as victims. Finally this criminal case was closed, and these employees of the police were unpunished which made them feel impelled to exhibit unbridled behavior. 

"It is already the time to curb the policemen who blemish the prestige and reputation of the policeman's uniform. The first step has already been taken but yet it's unknown what future this case will have".

Zhanna Aleksanyan