Nearly 200 residents of the Norashen village of the Ararat Marz (province) organized a manifestation near the Armenian Prosecutor General’s building on Friday. They were protesting that public prosecutors had pressed false charges against their fellow villager Sarkis Soghomonyan according to which Sarkis must be sentenced to 12 years in prison. The prosecutors accuse Sarkis of kidnapping and raping Lidia Muradyan of Yerevan by force and with the use of a weapon.
S. Soghomonyan had kidnapped Lidia about a year ago. However, Sarkis’s mother and relatives say that he did not kidnap her; Lidia went by her own consent and even brought her clothes and other belongings. They also say that Lidia asked Sarkis to kidnap her because her parents were not letting her get married with Sarkis. The family members also said that some guy by the name of Armen, who was a family friend, used to sexually abuse her. Before arriving at Sarkis’s house, the young couple had gone to church and then to the boy’s relatives’ home. The residents of Norashen had seen all of that and told “168 Hours”. But the next day, not only did the mother of the bride take her daughter back home, but she also made policemen from Yerevan come and arrest Sarkis. Sarkis has been in the Sovetashen prison for a year while the preliminary investigation was in progress. Let us recall that this case gained popularity due to president of the first instance court of the Nor Nork district Samvel Uzunyan, whom the public knows for the “October 27” case. Lidia’s mother Marine Muradyan is head of the court instance administration and according to the residents of Norashen, she has close ties with Uzunyan.
Sarkis’s mother, Mrs. Margarita, says that Lidia’s mother was able to organize the preliminary investigations based on her scenario with help from Uzunyan. In fact, during the beginning of this case, there were some publications in Armenian presses claiming that Uzunyan had personally gone to the Prosecutor’s Office and beaten Sarkis with a weapon. The people of Norashen had brought posters with the following written on them: “Samvel Uzunyan, bigotry and adultery are unacceptable in Armenia”, “Mr. Prosecutor, you should imprison Uzunyan instead of Sarkis”, and “Love is not a crime”. They had gathered in front of the Prosecutor General’s building screaming “Justice”.
The Erebuni prosecutor’s office has ended the preliminary investigation of Sarkis’s case and has submitted the investigation results to the court of the same district where the case was being tried on Friday. The court postponed the trial and scheduled the continuation on Tuesday, March 20.
“They postponed it in order to reach the verdict” says Sarkis’s attorney Smbat Mesropyan according to whom their only hope is that the court will send the case to be investigated.
“One of the charges is group kidnapping. But the preliminary investigation did not reveal who the kidnappers were. If there was such a group, then they need to find the group members or declare an investigation. But there is no such thing. They should bring substantial evidence proving that there was indeed a group. The next charge is use of weapon which they attached to the case after three months. If there was use of weapons, why didn’t they conduct experiments and delayed it for three months? As a matter of fact, they found traces of the weapons in the car. We all know that it is not too difficult for the Prosecutor’s office to make it look like they found traces and that is exactly what they did. Before the Erebuni prosecutor’s office, this case was being investigated at the Shengavit district prosecutor’s office. There they saw that it was phony and sent it back. Another thing: if the event took place in the Ararat Marz, why are Yerevan police arresting the criminal and conducting the preliminary investigation and the court trials in Yerevan? What, don’t they have police in the Ararat Marz? Isn’t there a prosecutor’s office or a court? Basically, this was planned in Yerevan.”
During the demonstration on Friday, Deputy Prosecutor General of Armenia Mnatsakan Sarkisyan received Mesropyan and Sarkis’s mother Mrs. Margarita.
“I presented Sarkisyan with all the details,” says the attorney. “He accepted them and said that the case is in a stage where the Erebuni investigator must press his charges. The investigator made his indictment in court and has demanded a 12-year sentencing for Sarkis. Sarkisyan also told us that it would be better if the court considered the investigator’s charges invalid and sends the case to be reinvestigated. I agree with the deputy prosecutor general and that is our only hope. The unproven facts favor the defendant”.
“How can they sentence a man for kidnapping a girl out of love and getting married with her,” ask the residents of Norashen.
“I brought up my son during these difficult years, sent him to the army to have him get sentenced for loving?” says Sarkis’s mother Mrs. Margarita disappointedly.