Police

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Armenia

Armenian police ‘beat and insult’ Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian

by Arshaluys Barseghyan

•2 min read

Armenian police have been accused of assaulting, insulting, and pepper spraying a Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian whilst detaining him for a parking violation last week. On 1 August, Roman Yeritsyan, a lawyer from Nagorno-Karabakh, published a video on Facebook stating that his brother, Aram Yeritsyan, was ‘severely beaten’ by 10 police officers as he was being detained. Yeritsyan has since published photos of injuries his brother received, stating that his brother sustained a broken hand, broken fi

Armenia

Former Armenian police chief released despite being found guilty of abuse of power

by Arshaluys Barseghyan

•1 min read

Former chief of the Armenian police, Vladimir Gasparyan, and three other former police officials have been found guilty of abuse of power, forgery, and embezzlement by Armenia’s anti-corruption court, but have been released after amnesties were applied to all four. On Tuesday, the court found Gasparyan, his deputy Levon Yeranosyan, and two other former police officials guilty. Vladimir Gasparyan was found guilty in two cases, but exempted from serving the sentence for one on the basis of th

Armenia

Man arrested and beaten after insulting Armenian ruling party MP

by Arshaluys Barseghyan

•2 min read

A man arrested for insulting an MP from Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party was reportedly beaten by a group of masked people while in detention. Samvel Vardanyan was arrested on charges of hooliganism on Monday after an altercation with MP Hakob Aslanyan on a bus in Yerevan. He was later charged with inciting political enmity. Footage of the incident shows Vardanyan and Aslanyan insulting and pushing each other. On Tuesday, Vardanyan’s lawyers, Ruben Melikyan and Varazdat Harutyunyan, s

Residents at an overnight protest by the building. Photo: Hetq

Armenia

Families evicted from former Armenian Defence Ministry HQ

by Ani Avetisyan

•2 min read

Police have reportedly evicted over 150 families from the former headquarters of Armenia’s Defence Ministry on the outskirts of Yerevan. Residents protested outside the building, which they are being evicted from ahead of its renovation for use by the State Revenue Committee. The 13-storey building, located northwest of the city on the Yerevan-Ashtarak highway, was given to Armenia’s State Revenue Committee in April 2022. On Thursday, Yerevan police evicted residents of the building who, a

Armenia

Backlash after Pashinyan appoints ‘childhood friend’ as Armenia’s Interior Minister

by Ani Avetisyan

•2 min read

A group of Armenian civil society organisations is to stop working with the government on police reforms after the appointment of Vahe Ghazaryan, reportedly a childhood friend of PM Nikol Pashinyan, as Minister of Internal Affairs. In a statement on Tuesday, three leading Armenian NGOs announced that they were pulling out of the Police Reform Coordination Council, dismissing it as ‘pointless in the current situation’. ‘Instead of addressing […] the challenges that undermine the reform proc

Chechnya

Chechen man ‘abducted and held in basement’ for past six months

by OC Media

•2 min read

A Chechen man has been abducted by police and held for six months in an attempt to frame him for financing terrorism, local sources have told OC Media. Thirty-five-year-old Usman Mitayev was allegedly kidnapped by police from his home in Chechnya’s second-biggest city, Urus-Martan, on 1 October 2020. A close friend of Mitayev’s approached OC Media with information on Mitayev’s disappearance. The man, who asked to remain anonymous for his own safety, said Mitayev was being held in a basemen

Armenia

Pashinyan fires top security officials after wedding party

by OC Media

•2 min read

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has fired the Director of the National Security Services (NSS), Head of Police, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. The firings came a day after the head of the Armed Forces, Artak Davtyan, hosted his son’s wedding, possibly in violation of COVID-19 restrictions. Photos and video from outside Davtyan’s residence, where the wedding was held, were published by Hraparak on Sunday. They showed a large number of vehicles, including som