HANS BOON: I HAVE WORKED IN OVER 50 DEVELOPING STATES, HOWEVER THIS WAS A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE
ArmInfo
2008-11-28 22:45:00
ArmInfo. ‘I have worked in over 50 developing states. However this
was a unique experience and maybe useful or of interest for any
foreigner without Armenian family relations’, says Hans Boon, the
director general of HayPost CJSC, in a letter to ArmInfo.
‘In this message I would like to provide you with some of the facts
and backgrounds and experience regarding the two violent attacks,
because I am really surprised about the observation that I did not
provide any statement to the Police. The opposite could also be said. I
have received other similar comments and therefore I hope to clarify
this. I have definitely no objection if you provide this statement
to the Police and other official investigators. I do not know how to
reach them and in fact have delivered information’, Boon says.
Further in the letter, Hans Boon tells: ‘The attack on 10 October
2008 took place in the late evening. The violent, and possibly quick,
attack must have been organized very well- probably from the back.
The attack included about 5 or more severe beatings on different
places of my head. It must be stated only on my head, no other places
of the body. The attack has resulted in loss of memory of that moment,
in combination with the loss of conscience for about 12 hours.
Consequently I do not know or do not remember who the assailant was
and how it was done. It must be stated however that it was not a
medical issue, like a heart attack. After the assault I must have
fallen down on the street, and nearby living inhabitants are said
to have made a call to Police or Hospital to report that a heavily
wounded or death corpse was found on the street.
The Hospital car or ambulance came and both the doctors and a police
officer made an analysis, confirming that it was the result of a
criminal attack but also noting that my body was alive. A colleague of
HayPost was also alarmed, possibly by me in one of the moments awake.
The next day around noon I regained more normal conscience and also
better memory. Most of the above between the assault and recuperation
of conscience has been told to me.
The hospital St. Grigor Lusavorich charged more than AMD 400,000/Euro
1100 for the 1 night stay and research, and explained that it charges
to foreigners five times the rate to Armenians.
The hospital looked in a very poor condition and therefore it was
decided to leave it and to rest in the apartment. The hospital had
partially undressed me and I received my clothes back. I noticed that
the wallet was not there anymore.
The wallet had in cash an equivalent of around AMD 400,000 – partially
in Armenian Dram [around AMD 200,000], Russian Rouble, US Dollars and
Euros, in addition several creditcards [not bankcards] , and a European
Union ID Card and a special card for the Amsterdam International
Airport. It is not clear whether the wallet has disappeared or fallen
out of the clothes in the hospital or the ambulance, but most likely
it has been stolen as part of the attack.
In any case, since then I have requested via the HayPost company
lawyer, a Mr Arayk Abrahayan for a police report,. This has been
requested orally, by email and by telephone to him and other colleagues
more than 15 times The request has eventually also been reported to
the Minister of the Economy .
The issue is that without such report on the police observation
and notification, the process in The Netherlands with the Insurance
companies, the Credit card companies and the official authorities
issuing IDs is very difficult and that brings additional damages of
1000s of Euros to me.
However, a request to communicate with the police and to obtain the
report remains unanswered by the Armenian side.
In stead I was informed via an other colleague that the Police had
called the Chief Company Lawyer, [ex CBA] about 20 days after the
assault, i.e. early November 2008. It means when I was already in
The Netherlands.
The Police had asked him to request me to appear at the Police
Station. The colleagues reported that the Company Lawyer stated that
I refused.
Subsequently the Police is said to have stated that I would be
imprisoned to ensure my availability for the interrogation. This was
very shocking information.
Subsequently the Police have been visited on 11 November by the
colleague, Mr A Khachaturyan, who also was during the night or
morning of the assault in the hospital. He is said to have made a 3
page statement clarifying the details situation as above described,
although I do not have any written evidence from the Police or via
the lawyers. It was also stated that the Police had requested that
I need to provide all my clothes that I had during the attack. That
request came also in the first half of November 2008 and the Police
must also have known from the reports that the assault was entirely
focused on the head, with 5 or more beatings and not on other places
of the body. It is has remained unclear why the Police is said to
have made that request at that time. Most of the clothes have been
cleaned, washed and or used after the attack, and it is unclear what
the Police expects to find that long after the attack, however it
would mean for me another expense of more than Euro 1000 in loss
of clothes and transportation costs. The clothes taken of the first
assault in July 2008 have also not been returned.
It has also been stated that more colleagues were planned to be
interrogated, such as a driver and a (daytime) security guard,
company assistant and housekeeper. According to a newspaper this
has happened, most likely in the first of half of November. I am not
informed about this and have no report, but read in the internet news
that it was stated that most of the persons mentioned that they do not
know my private life. It would have been correct to state that there
is practically no private life, except from a dinner in a restaurant
and a visit to shops or a walk on the streets during the weekend..
I should mention that I have never received a request from the Police,
only heard about it via colleagues and these requests were never in a
non-Armenian language and as far as requests were received or noted
it has been responded to but none of the requests known to me refer
to details of the assault and circumstances.
All kind requests from my side via Armenian legal staff to provide
to me a written police confirmation of the attack and theft remain
unanswered.
The following questions and impressions appear: Why does the police
start an investigation more than 20 days after the attack, that
could have resulted in death, therefore an attempt-to-murder case,
and what is the quality and depth of the investigation. One of the
media reported that the Police needs a Court decision in order to be
allowed to investigate the possibility of a combination between the
two attacks- why ?
The first Assault on the evening of 12 July 2008 which was a so-called
hooliganism attack by 2 persons first attempting to hit by car me
twice and subsequently by beating in a way that it would have resulted
in death, has lead to a verdict in November 2008. One of the persons
will walk free in Yerevan early 2009 and the other a bit later early
2009. The case was also a special experience.
It started for my Dutch colleague and me with heavy wounds , including
bleeding. The Police initially refused to arrange First Aid, and when
an Armenian colleague was able to intervene after nearly 2 hours of
bleeding in the Police Station, the Police prohibited and called a
Ambulance. The First Aid treatment resulted in 2 days hospitalization
due to the heavy wounds.
Then, friendly police officers came to visit after treatment. They
were asked how the criminal prosecution would proceed. Initially
they started laughing and after the smile they explained that the
normal Armenian way is that there is no prosecution but that the
family representatives will approach us with an offer. This scared
us and we requested how we can ensure our security, because we are
not interested in such an approach.
Subsequently the Trust Founder to whom we report, tried to promote
the intermediation in such a typical Armenian approach. It was however
understood that we expected that the Rule of Law should prevail.
The Police insisted on several hearings/interviews, in total more
than 30 hours have been by each of us spent with the police to repeat
every time the details of that assault of less than 7 minutes. All
statements have been interpreted by a qualified interpreter and have
been written manually by the Police. Initially none of the statements,
neither ours nor those of the attackers were accessible. At the end
of September we learned from the Netherlands Ambassador that a file
with more than 450 pages had been prepared. On our request, via the
Company lawyer, on documentation, no answer has been provided. We
also heard that the scheduled Court session of early October was
postponed to November because it was said not be convenient for the
barristers of the two who attacked us. We received a 10 line message
on the final outcome of the court session from the lawyer and also a
confirmation that the damages claimed had been paid. The impression
is that the lawyer, in my absence, had been instructed to "prioritize"
other activities, but this is an impression.
The Netherlands Minister of Justice officially complained in July
2008 about the police treatment of its 2 citizens, keeping them
nearly 2 hours wounded and without first aid in a police station. It
is said that the Armenian side has investigated and responded to the
Ambassador that the Dutch statements are not (completely) true and
that the First Aid was arranged rapidly. There has been no excuse
for this type of treatment from the official Armenian side.
The impression is that the first attack is not done and executed by
the same persons as the second attack. It is also not possible to form
evidence whether the two attacks were organized by a higher level of
politically and economically interested parties. The Head of Police
should have received a letter from me, but no response and also I do
not know how to reach him.
This all represents a unique experience and maybe useful or of interest
for any foreigner without Armenian family relations’.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress