Yesterday it was almost officially confirmed that a resident of Charentsavan Vahan Khalafyan, 24, held in police custody on April 13, was murdered. He was murdered in the police department due to the violence applied by the police officers. The forensic survey of the dead body showed that certain violence was applied to Khalafyan. According to the statement yesterday issued by the Special Investigative Service (SIS) the investigation of the criminal case filed on April 15 in accordance with the first clause of article 110 of the Criminal Code of Armenia (causing suicide) was moved to the investigation spectrum of the Special Investigative Service. The statement claimed that after the interrogation, Khalafyan suddenly took a “kitchen knife” from a police officer’s drawer and fatally wounded himself in the stomach. It said the 24-year-old suffered from a mental disorder. The SIS announced that it has taken over the inquiry and is considering several theories, including “a hypothesis about Vahan Khalafyan’s murder by employees of the Charentsavan division of the Armenian police.” In a written statement, the SIS pointed to a forensic examination of Khalafyan’s body that was conducted in Yerevan on Thursday in the presence of one of the man’s uncles, Vartan Khalafyan. The law-enforcement agency did not publicize its findings, saying only that the corpse will undergo “several other examinations” in the coming days. Artur Sakunts, a prominent human rights campaigner investigating the affair, openly accused the Charentsavan police of brutally ill-treating Khalafyan during the interrogation. He claimed that the three other local residents suspected of theft were also beaten up in police custody. Ill-treatment of criminal suspects has long been regarded as the most frequent form of human rights violations in Armenia. Local and international human rights groups continue to accuse the police and other law-enforcement bodies of extracting confessions by force and intimidation. “This means disguising the crime by spreading misinformation. Because of this kind of behavior he should resign,” yesterday said Sakunts when responding to the statement made by the RA chief of police Alik Sargsyan two days ago. The latter claimed that Khalafyan had committed a suicide. In this background yesterday the RA policemen were celebrating their holiday with great thrill.
