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ATTORNEY: ARMENIAN OPPOSITIONIST TORTURED BY POLICE, HELD AS REPRISAL FOR FATHER'S POSITION
Stephan Voskanyan
ArmwniaNow
04.11.11 | 15:57
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
A lawyer for an imprisoned oppositionist says his client has suffered
torture at the hands of police, forcing him to make false confessions,
and that he is being held as a political vendetta.
Attorney Stephan Voskanyan represents Felix Gevorgyan, who was arrested
in connection with the violence of March 1, 2008 political uprising in
Yerevan. Gevorgyan was convicted of illegal possession of a firearm. He
was paroled in 2010, but re-arrested on September 29 this year.
Voskanyan says Gevorgyan, 32, has been subjected to torture,
including having his feet burned with a rod. The lawyer alleges that
police tried to get Gevorgyan to take responsibility for one of the
10 deaths during the melee between protestors and police. When he
refused, police then changed the charges to a series of robberies,
Voskanyan claims, to which Gevorgyan confessed after torture.
"Later, when an attorney was involved in the case, Gevorgyan recanted
those testimonies," Voskanyan said, adding that Gevorgyan appealed to
the Prosecutor General, the Ombudsman, and the Helsinki Association
on grounds of human rights abuse.
Voskanyan says that he has seen injuries on Gevorgyan and has called
for an expert examination of their cause.
"A forensic examination will be done to find out the issue related to
those injuries on the body, their nature, location, how acute they are,
and how they got there," he says.
Voskanyan insists Gevorgyan is being persecuted because his father
is the head of the Ajapnyak branch of the Armenian National Congress,
the leading party in Armenia's political opposition.
"There is an attempt to suppress the father's political activity
through his son. I know that a criminal action against his father
and other members of the family was attempted, however, it did not
happen," Voskanyan says.
From: A. Papazian
Stephan Voskanyan
ArmwniaNow
04.11.11 | 15:57
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
A lawyer for an imprisoned oppositionist says his client has suffered
torture at the hands of police, forcing him to make false confessions,
and that he is being held as a political vendetta.
Attorney Stephan Voskanyan represents Felix Gevorgyan, who was arrested
in connection with the violence of March 1, 2008 political uprising in
Yerevan. Gevorgyan was convicted of illegal possession of a firearm. He
was paroled in 2010, but re-arrested on September 29 this year.
Voskanyan says Gevorgyan, 32, has been subjected to torture,
including having his feet burned with a rod. The lawyer alleges that
police tried to get Gevorgyan to take responsibility for one of the
10 deaths during the melee between protestors and police. When he
refused, police then changed the charges to a series of robberies,
Voskanyan claims, to which Gevorgyan confessed after torture.
"Later, when an attorney was involved in the case, Gevorgyan recanted
those testimonies," Voskanyan said, adding that Gevorgyan appealed to
the Prosecutor General, the Ombudsman, and the Helsinki Association
on grounds of human rights abuse.
Voskanyan says that he has seen injuries on Gevorgyan and has called
for an expert examination of their cause.
"A forensic examination will be done to find out the issue related to
those injuries on the body, their nature, location, how acute they are,
and how they got there," he says.
Voskanyan insists Gevorgyan is being persecuted because his father
is the head of the Ajapnyak branch of the Armenian National Congress,
the leading party in Armenia's political opposition.
"There is an attempt to suppress the father's political activity
through his son. I know that a criminal action against his father
and other members of the family was attempted, however, it did not
happen," Voskanyan says.
From: A. Papazian