The “Zhoghovurd” daily writes: “According to the information of the “Zhoghovurd” daily, the RA Investigative Committee is discussing the issue of dismissing the head of the Yerevan city department, Rafael Vardanyan. The thing is that two law enforcement agencies, the Ministry of Internal Affairs Police and the Investigative Committee, have clashed, and so far the investigative one is winning. ArmLur.am reported that an active investigation is underway in the Anti-Corruption Committee into the case of torture of a police officer in the Investigative Committee.
According to the information received by ArmLur.am, the head of the Yerevan city department of the RA Investigative Committee, Rafael Vardanyan, has been summoned to the Anti-Corruption Committee and interrogated. Let us remind you that on August 22, we reported that Sargis Aghasi Bagratunyan, an operative of the Yeghvard department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Police, was beaten, and for a long time, ambulance workers were not allowed to enter the investigative department, and the Human Rights Defender's Office also received an alarm about the incident. According to the policeman's relatives, Rafael Vardanyan, the head of the Yerevan city department of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia, was a direct participant in the beating, and it was with his participation that the investigators beat the police officer. Police officer Sargis Aghasi Bagratunyan is currently in custody.
And what was the cause of the incident? The thing is that there is a car service station near the Malatia investigative department. The committee investigators parked the car in front of the service station, and the owner asked to take the cars out, which turned into a heated conversation. As a result, Sargis Bagratunyan, the operational officer of the Yeghvard department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Police, upon learning that his relative, who is the owner of the car service station and was in an unpleasant conversation, tried to resolve the issue, but it did not work out, the situation became even more heated and a fight broke out.
According to the relatives of the police officer, after this incident, Sargis Aghasi Bagratunyan, the operational officer of the Yeghvard department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Police, was called to the investigative department, where Rafael Vardanyan, the head of the Yerevan city department of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia, was present and beat him up and a criminal case was opened against him. The Investigative Committee had addressed the incident, stating that the investigators, with the participation of the head of the department, had brutally beaten a police officer, which was not true. And while the Investigative Committee denied it, the Anti-Corruption Committee took action. It initiated criminal proceedings based on a report about the beating of Yeghvard Police Department Operations Officer Sargis Bagratunyan with the participation of Rafael Vardanyan, the head of the YCC Department.
It was officially announced that a criminal case has been initiated in the RA Anti-Corruption Committee under Article 450, Part 2, Clause 7 of the RA Criminal Code on the apparent crime of torture by officials. It turns out that the police officer was beaten by the employees of the Investigative Committee, but as a result, the police officer himself ended up in prison. The investigators on the other side of the incident continue to remain at large. According to lawyer Vahe Martirosyan, his client, police officer Sargis Bagratunyan, was beaten by the investigators in his office. The lawyer claims that his clothes were torn, there were injuries on his body, and he himself called the ambulance.
Meanwhile, the Investigative Committee presents the opposite version, claiming that the police officer and more than 20 of his relatives used violence against the investigators and committed hooligan acts. And why has the head of the Yerevan city investigation department, Rafael Vardanyan, not been punished for his actions to this day? Perhaps because his brother, Asatur Vardanyan, is the Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration of the Republic of Armenia, Asatur Vardanyan. By the way, Pashinyan has not yet reappointed him. It is not excluded that Asatur Vardanyan will also be dismissed from his post against the background of these and other circumstances.
More details in today's issue of the newspaper
