NGOs demand inquiry into beating two ethnic Armenians in Tbilisi

Non-governmental and human rights organizations have disseminated an open appeal to the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Georgia to immediately conduct an investigation into the beating in Tbilisi of Arthur Babayan and Philip Oganezyan.

According to Babayan and Oganezyan, they were beaten up by policemen, who also abused them because of their nationality. However, the fact of beating them was not investigated; instead, Babayan and Oganezyan themselves were accused of violating the public order.

The incident occurred on April 5, 2015, in the Tbilisi nightclub "Nine". Arthur Babayan told on air of the TV Company "Rustavi-2" that he stood with his friend Philip Oganezyan near the club, when they were approached by a man in civilian clothes. "He heard us speaking Russian, came up to us and asked about our nationality. We said that we are Armenians. He said 'ough, I can't stand you,' and pulled out his wallet with a certificate of a police officer in it," said Babayan. After that, according to Babayan, a verbal altercation broke out, after which their opponent went out and brought a few policemen with him, who began beating up Oganezyan and Babayan in the club; after which they were detained and taken to the police station.

According to Vakhtang Gagnidze, the defendants' advocate, law enforcement bodies failed to conduct a proper investigation into the beating of Oganezyan and Babayan.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.