Oppositionist demands reopening of case about brawl at Yerevan Council of Elders

Investigators have unreasonably closed the case of beatings at a sitting of the Council of Elders of Yerevan, said Sona Agekyan, an activist of the "Apricot Country" Party. Another participant of the incident, Marina Khachatryan, said that she forgave the offenders.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 13, 2018, Marine Khachatryan and Sona Agekyan, activists of the "Apricot Country" Party brought cans with sewage water to the sitting of the Council of Elders of Yerevan and wanted to put them on the table of the Yerevan Mayor, trying to draw his attention to the problem of the faulty sewer system of the Nubarashen Prison; however, members of the ruling Republican interfered and forced the women out of the hall. According to Ms Khachatryan, she received several blows on her head.

On December 28, 2018, the Investigating Committee decided to stop the criminal case due to the absence of the corpus delicti. The parties received this decision only on January 10 this year. Today, Sona Agekyan, a former member of the Council of Elders from the "Apricot Country" Party, has sent a complaint to the Prosecutor's Office against the decision of the Committee.

"A crime was committed, and the criminals should be punished," she told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. Ms Agekyan said that if she failed to achieve justice in the Armenian courts, she would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

In her turn, Marine Khachatryan, also a former member of the Council of Elders from the "Apricot Country" Party, has refused to appeal against the decision to close the criminal case. The goal of the action has been reached, she told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "Within the framework of the amnesty in Armenia, I decided to make my step and forgive those people who used violence against me. In the new Armenia, we have to look forward and forget all the insults," Marine Khachatryan has explained.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 16, 2019 at 10:46 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.