“Don’t Harass the Man”: Political Activist on Trial Stands Up for Police Officer
07.30.2014 18:27 epress.am
Police officers who testified in the case of Shant Harutyunyan amused
those present in the courtroom with their responses. Judge Mnatsakan
Martirosyan tried in every way possible to help police employees avoid
unwanted questions.
Today’s court hearing in the case of political activist Shant
Harutyunyan and his friends began 35 minutes late. Frequent visitors
of the hearings have become accustomed to this: relatives of the
accused mainly began to gather at around 12:30 pm, while journalists,
though they entered the courtroom at the appointed time (12 pm), knew
about this “habit” of the court and weren’t in a hurry to take their
seats. One group of a journalists was discussing whether Yerevan
Deputy Police Chief Valeriy Osipyan, who directed the actions of
police on the day of the accused were arrested (November 5, 2013),
would be questioned in court today. Osipyan was not summoned for
questioning at the last court session, though he was named as the
fourth victim in the case. The previous three victims were questioned.
Osipyan was not present in court during the first half of the hearing
today, though Harutyunyan repeatedly asked the court to call him,
saying that he wants to speak about the private conversation he had
with the deputy police chief ahead of the march on November 5.
At the start of today’s hearing, Judge Martirosyan was found to be
amiable toward the Shant TV reporter, allowing him to place his
microphone on the stand. Previously, court bailiffs rudely refused the
reporter, saying, “You should’ve come earlier and done that. We aren’t
going to take [the microphone], and you can’t [approach the stand].”
After that, however, Judge Martirosyan, who has examined many
scandalous political cases and, to put it mildly, has a controversial
reputation, was well-disposed only toward the police officers named as
victims in the case. The judge constantly helped police officers
giving testimonies, removed questions that were undesirable for them,
and when they found themselves at a loss, he clarified the question,
often guiding respondents.
Police officers named as victims entered the courtroom and presented a
text that was clearly memorized, trying to exactly replicate
statements made during the preliminary investigation and testimonies
police officers made at the last court hearing. They mainly repeated
the phrases “hit police officers in civilian clothes,” “failed to
fulfill the lawful demands of police employees,” and “threw explosives
under [our] feet”.
Problems arose when attorneys and defendants began to ask the police
questions. The first of these, Aziz Mirzoyan, quickly finished his
testimony, and Shant Harutyunyan urged those present not to ask
questions, after which the officer left. But in the case of the second
officer, Razmik Kharatyan, the police officer who memorized his text
beforehand, under a barrage of questions, clearly began to flounder.
In his testimony, Kharatyan said that he was standing 25 meters away
from the scene of the incident when he heard the sound of explosives
and approached the march. He claims that he heard police officers
urging marchers to go on the sidewalk and not to disrupt public order.
Asked how he heard at a distance of 25 meters that which video cameras
could not catch, the police officer replied: “That’s the cameras’
problem.”
His answers caused laughter in the courtroom; after some time, police
officers and court bailiffs also began to laugh. Realizing that the
situation is getting out of control, the young officer began to
respond more frequently, “I don’t remember” and “I can’t say.” The
stream of questions continued, and Kharatyan, it seems, getting
impatient, said, “I don’t remember; it’s in my testimony; look
[there],” after which not only the accused, but also those present in
the courtroom began to laugh. Judge Martirosyan came to the police
officer’s rescue a few times, removing some of the questions. The
judge was particularly active when asking questions was defendant
Mkrtich Hovhannisyan’s attorney Ruzanna Hovhannisyan, who asked
whether police officers have the right to carry out their duties in
civilian clothes, but in all cases the judge removed the question.
Kharatyan continued to amuse those present in the courtroom. In
particular, asked how he learned that it was not the police who was
uttering curses, he said that police officers cannot use foul
language.
At the end of the day, Shant Harutyunyan urged his friends “not to
harass the man” and let him go home.
The other police officers repeated the same text in their testimonies.
A person sitting behind me said: “Now he’ll say they threw an
explosive at my feet, my eyes watered, but it wasn’t so powerful and I
didn’t go see a doctor.” And that is almost exactly what the police
officer on the stand said.
Defendant Vardan Vardanyan asked one of the police officers what flags
the protestors held that day. The police officer was sure that
demonstrators only held Armenia’s tricolor flag; however, Vardanyan
said they had no flags at all.
Note, Harutyunyan and his 13 friends are accused of hooliganism
committed with an object used as a weapon and resisting the
authorities.
Armen Melikbekyan