On 3 October, Artush Simonyan, the victim in Haykaz Barseghyan’s murder case made new disclosures at the court.
Firstly, the court announced the victim’s preliminary testimony, where the latter said that on the at the night of 29 January 2016, he noticed the four defendants in the case, former cadets Gnel Tevosyan, Norik Sahakyan, Vache Sahakyan and Movses Azaryan, where taking away Haykaz. “According to him Haykaz was in a winter jacket, sportswear and gloves, it was not clear whether Haykaz was walking or they were dragging him.” Judge of the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction of Avan and Nor Nork Administrative Regions of Yerevan Davit Harutyunyan announced the victim’s preliminary testimony.
Further the next testimonies of the victim were announced, where he claimed that all he said formerly was false. A. Simonyan also said that he had provided false evidence in order to avoid liability. “I told the investigator and wrote this testimony that my previous testimony was a lie, I did not see anything because I was asleep.” The victim explained that he was on duty that day, but his he did not carry out duty properly, so he was afraid to tell the truth, because there is responsibility for his actions.
In addition, the victim claimed that the military police officers applied pressure upon him. “At that moment my psychological state was not stable. And there was a slight pressure by the military police officers, or I was afraid. They told me to tell the truth.” According to Artush the police officers meant the names of the four defendants, which he provided and also added some fabricated details.
The victim’s questioning continued and it became clear that he was slapped by the military police. Prior to this soldier had said that they had only shouted at him and pushed, but after the accused Moses Azaryan’s question: “While standing in the corridor of the Military Police, with your face to the wall near Arshak Martirosyan, why your left cheek was bruised.” The victim replied that he did not remember the cause. The defendant explained, “Didn’t a person in civilian hit you in the reception area near the corridor?” The victim first said that he could not confirm, and then said that there was only some fuss. However, when the judge repeated the question a second time, he said it was a slap.
After some more questions it became clear that several people had slapped the victim.
G.T.
