NEW EVIDENCE OF A SCHEME OF DECEPTION IN MARIAM GEVORGYAN’S TRIAL
Currently ongoing at the Universal Court of Ararat and Vayots Dzor
Marzes in Artashat is the trial of Mariam Gevorgyan, a victim of
violence, abuse and torture at the hands of her ex-husband David
Ziroyan and former mother-in-law Haykanush Mikaelyan, the accused in
the case currently in court.
Recall, the couple married in 2009, then left for St. Petersburg,
where the David’s family lived at the time. Ten months later, Mariam
returned to Yerevan and contacted the police, who subsequently charged
David with “inflicting willful medium-gravity damage to health” and
“battery” to which he pleaded guilty. The general amnesty granted by
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on occasion of the 20th anniversary
of Armenia’s independence in 2011, however, was applied to David
and he was released. David’s mother continues to face charges of
inflicting willful medium-gravity damage to health, as well as torture
(RA Criminal Code Article 119).
Members of Mariam Gevorgyan’s family have informed the Women’s
Support Center that David’s and Haykanush’s relatives have repeatedly
approached them with hush money, requesting Mariam withdraw her
complaint. Recall, Meline Bayatian, David’s first wife, was inspired
by Mariam’s speaking out and filing a lawsuit against David and
his mother and also initially pressed charges of cruel and abusive
treatment. However, during the investigation, Meline withdrew some of
the charges and later even requested, along with the accused party,
that the trial be closed to the public and members of the press, which
we don’t understand. Is this a convenience to hide other machinations?
In fact, in an earlier interview to Hetq Online, David publicly
admitted to hitting Meline (initially given the pseudonym “Monica” in
the press). Yet, Meline, who was once supportive of Mariam, has since
become very aggressive towards Mariam’s supporters and doesn’t want
to cooperate with them in the case against David or his mother. One
wonders what has happened. That David either directly or indirectly
put pressure on Meline to withdraw or change her story to improve
the case against his mother is not ruled out. Furthermore, there are
rumors that after the trial David wants to marry Meline again.
Consider this: on July 21, one of the Coalition to Stop Violence
Against Women volunteers saw David and Meline coming out of a navy
blue Opel (license plate number 33 VO 506) and walking into the Mkhitar
Gosh Hotel in the village of Gosh, Tavush region. They left the hotel
a short while later and went to Goshavank Monastery.
All of this is very suspicious and it is very likely that David aims
to mislead the court and pretend that all of Mariam’s physical and
psychological scars were a fiction of her imagination.
It’s important to highlight a well-known dynamic in cases of domestic
violence: the denial of the abuser of any reponsibility even when
all the evidence is brought before him. Secondly, an abuser can be
very manipulative and deceiving. Often he creates a honeymoon period
when all is well and becomes a considerate and gentle lover – which
is then followed by episodes of violence.
We wonder if Meline is reliving the honeymoon phase, and if so,
we caution her to be aware of the manipulations of a batterer.
Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women
From: Baghdasarian
http://times.am/?l=en&p=10345