Armenia: witness at trial on officer Artak Nazaryan's death refuses from his evidence

In Armenia, at the court hearing on the case of the death of contract officer Artak Nazaryan, one of the witnesses retracted his testimony, given at the preliminary investigation. Representatives of the parties believe that witness Smbat Sargsyan gave testimony under pressure.

The "Caucasian Knot" reported that investigators suggest that Lieutenant Artak Nazaryan, who shot and killed himself on July 27, 2010, was driven to suicide by his colleagues. The prisoners' dock contains five persons, including Akop Manukyan, Deputy Battalion Commander. Relatives of Artak Nazaryan believe that the preliminary investigation was carried out with violations and that the investigators try to hide the real cause of the Lieutenant's death.

On October 11, the court hearing questioned witness Smbat Sargsyan, a former regular soldier.

Earlier, Grant Gevorkyan, lawyer of the principal defendant Akop Manukyan, filed a motion to invite to the court as witnesses Smbat Sargsyan and two more soldiers, who were serving their military service at the combat station "Luis", located not far from the combat station "Ozlu", where Artak Nazaryan served.

Smbat Sargsyan: testimony is false, and I did not write it

At the trial, Smbat Sargsyan stated that the testimony was written not by him, but by the investigator. "I signed the testimony under the insistence of the investigator. I have not read the contents of the protocol," he has explained. Smbat Sargsyan has noted that he trusted the investigator, who said to him: "Sign it."

Smbat Sargsyan has stated that he does not accept and does not admit the read out testimony. "The testimony is false, and I did not write it. I did not testify that I saw how the defendant Akop Manukyan slapped Artak Nazaryan," Smbat Sargsyan has clarified. He has also noted that he did not say in his testimony that he saw someone in the smoking room at the nearby combat station; however, the protocol of his questioning during the investigation indicated the opposite.

In response, Prosecutor Arutyun Arutyunyan, one of the representatives of the public prosecution, reminded the witness that false testimony is strictly prohibited by law. The statement has caused strong dissatisfaction of the both victim and the defendant parties, whose representatives treated the Prosecutor's as a threat to the witness, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Lawyer Grant Gevorkyan asked Smbat Sargsyan whether he was informed of the reasons for his keeping at the detention facility of the Military Police of the town of Berd. The witness answered in the negative. "I tried to clarify that; however, but I did not succeed," he has explained. Smbat Sargsyan has also added that he gave testimony to the investigator, being under arrest at the Military Police.

Smbat Sargsyan also answered in the negative, when asked whether the defendant could drive Artak Nazaryan to commit suicide.

Lawyer Musheg Shushanyan and human rights defender Ruben Martirosyan, representatives of Tsovinar Nazaryan, a successor of Artak Nazaryan, asked the witness whether he had not been subjected to violence while under arrest. "I do not remember," Smbat Sargsyan replied.

Ruben Martirosyan: we believe that witness was tortured and beaten

"We are confident that the witness had been tortured and beaten. The investigator fraudulently obtained from him the testimony that he needed. We do not get explanations for suspicions we have," Ruben Martirosyan has stated.

According to the lawyer Musheg Shushanyan, the testimony, given at the preliminary investigation, cannot be used as the basis for the trial. "Smbat Sargsyan was kept for four days under arrest at the Military Police, and that single fact can be a sufficient reason not to accept his testimony," Musheg Shushanyan said.

Grant Gevorkyan, the lawyer of Akop Manokyan, has emphasized that the investigators on the case did not understand the situation, since the witnesses' testimonies contained a lot of contradictions.

After examination of the witness, the second part of the court session was started, which, in accordance with the earlier announcement, was held behind "closed doors" and was devoted to disclosure of secret documents.

The next court session is scheduled for October 18.