Levon Barseghyan, Chairman of the Journalists’ Club “Asparez” in Gyumri, on the day of the military parade in 2011 organized on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of independence in Yerevan, learning from the Facebook that foreign troops and flags will be participating in the parade joined the spontaneous organized protest against the presence of foreign troops and flags in our parade of independence.
During the protest, an incident happened with the police officers headed by famous Arayik Petrossyan, who, at the time, was the deputy head of the Kentron Police Department. Levon Barseghyan and Arno Kuri were taken to the police by force, 3 hours illegally kept, and were released only after the completion of the parade.
Levon Barseghyan has sued the police to court winning the trial after 1.5-year-long hearing.
In a conversation with Aravot.am, Levon Barseghyan presented the incident as follows: “On September 21, 2011, in the morning of the Independence Day, as soon s we started our demonstrators and protest march near the statue of Saryan, the police officers, headed by the same infamous Arayik Petrosyan, at that time he was the Deputy Head of the Kentron Police Department, warned that if we begin to march they would catch us, and take to the police station, and we said that we are exercising our rights, you do your job, if you think that you are going to take, take. The grabbed a couple of posters from us with “Free, independent Armenia”, “Armenia is not a part of Russia,” and so on. Then, when we raised the flag and began to chant “Free, independent Armenia”, they caught me and Arno Kuri, made us get into the car, took us to the Kentron department, kept us for 3 hours, when the parade ended, they released us.
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In the meantime, the police, in response to the news that we were apprehended to police, rumors were spread that we were not apprehended to the police station, two people were invited to the police station to identify their personality. Of course, the man knew who we are, we have talked. Nothing was clarified from us in the police department. When my lawyer came, we asked for the protocol on arrest, etc., they said,- “we haven’t apprehended you, what protocol, what such a thing”. In short, they began to pretend innocent.
After leaving we decided that we should sue the police officers to call to order. The judicial process lasted 1.5 years, we had invited witnesses to the trial. They decided to call 4 police officers to protect them, in the result of which they were absolutely disgraced. They began to lie, as if I had asked the police to apprehend me, and the judge during the trial asked that he did not understand “if anyone in anywhere asks you to take him to the police department, would you do it”, he said, “yes, what’s wrong with that”. The judge says “why do you use the means of the state for taking the citizen to police department, let him come by his own means, if he wanted. In short, answers of stupid character.
They began to tell that I was drinking coffee and smoking in the police department, he was telling that we were smoking, and talking for 3 hours.
Ultimately, the court acknowledged and received our claim as a whole. The requirements of the appeal were following: to recognize violation of my rights to freedom of speech, freedom of movement and freedom of rallies. To recognize the fact and compensate the amount of the state duty. Now, the police officer owes me 8 thousand drams.
We were waiting for them to present an appeal to the Court of Appeals, a month passed, they have not yet presented the appeal.
On the 4th, we have a press conference at the “Media” center with my good friend and lawyer Artak Zeynalyan, he was my representative. We will present the circumstances of the case, we will present a series of amusing passages from interrogation of witnesses as to what kind of nonsense answers can be given by a police captain, by one of them who apprehended me, and so on.”
According to Levon Barseghyan, there were two ways, one of them was to present a report against the police, the other to apply to an administrative court. But since Levon Barseghyan during restriction of the rights to mobile freely on a car along Sayat-Nova street in Gyumri with Georgian license plates, submitted a report to the police at the request of filing a criminal case, and making sure that “the police officer does not eat meat of another police officer,” and “the prosecutor’s office can no way eat the meat of a police officer”, this time he applied to the Administrative Court.
And the Administrative Court has recognized the fact of violation of Levon Barseghyan’s constitutional rights to freedom of mobility, freedom of speech, and freedom of rallies by the police.
Nune AREVSHATYAN
Photo by news.am
