Lilit Ghulyan is sure of it. Her brother Levon was interrogated repeatedly over the course of three days by the police and prosecutors, and then his family was told that he had died attempting to escape.

The Shengavit police department had received an emergency call at around 10:00 in the evening on May 9 from theYerevanMedicalCenterreporting that they had received the body of Stepan Vartanyan, with gunshot wounds to the head and abdomen. According the nurse on duty in reception, two men had dragged Vartanyan's body to the hospital and left immediately without any explanation. At the same time, the Shengavit police department received an emergency call that shots had been heard onManandyan Streetin front of the Bolero Sauna . It was later discovered that that was where Stepanyan had been shot. At 3:00 in the morning, the police took Levon Ghulyan, the manager of Pandok, a restaurant near the sauna, to the Shengavit Police Station.

”My brother heard the noise when it happened and came out of the restaurant. Maybe someone saw him and told the police, and they took my brother to the police station. But they didn't provide any documents saying he was being taken in for questioning as a witness.” Ghulayan's sister Lilit recounted. . ”The head of the criminal department of the Shengavit police, Hovik Soghomonyan, beat him and forced him to provide names. He was moved to the Prosecutor's General Office in the morning and then released later that evening. But he was told to appear once again in the morning.”

Ghulyan returned to the Prosecutor's Office on the morning of May 12, Election Day. He was released for two hours to go and cast his vote. Levon had enough time to come home and change the clothes, before going back to the Prosecutor's Office at 1:00 in the afternoon.

”We learned later that one Hovhannes Tamamyan [deputy chief of the General Department of Criminal Investigations] had come and personally taken my brother by car to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We don't know whether there were any grounds or had they any right to take him. There was no document, no sanction regarding his removal. They didn't even take my brother's passport, ” Lilit said.

Anxious about his welfare, Levon Ghulyan's family phoned the Prosecutor's Office around 5:00 in the afternoon, and were informed that he had died. The forensic examination identified signs of violence on his body; there were bruises on the bottoms of his feet, and fractures to his skull and vertebrae.

The police press service released a statement on May 12 which read, ”Levon Ghulyan was summoned the General Office of Criminal Investigations on May 12, around 14:30 to provide information in the killing of S. Vartanyan. During the interview he asked the officer on duty for water, and taking advantage of his absence attempted to escape through the window; however he slipped and fell from the second floor and died of his injuries immediately.”

”We are convinced he was killed in the police station and thrown out of the window head first. He was thrown from such a height that his hair went through the asphalt. First they said that he fell down from the fourth floor; then it became the second floor. But there is a long roof under the window. You couldn't jump over that long distance and fall to the ground even if you wanted to,” said Lilit. Moreover, “she added, my brother had two young children and he loved life. Why would he have done such a thing, and where could he have escaped when the whole area was surrounded?”

“Levon was released on May 12 to take part in the in elections. Then he went back. The fact that Ghulyan returned on his own makes the assertion that he escaped very suspicious, to put it mildly. Or else he was forced to escape by beatings and brutality,” maintained Artur Grigoryan, a lawyer representing the victim's family.

According to Levon Ghulyan's sister, the barman and the waitress at Pandok were also questioned as witnesses. “Hayk was also beaten brutally by the police, and he didn't hide it. When the waitress asked for water at the police station she was told to go and get a drink in the bathroom. How did it happen that they went to fetch water for my brother from the next room when he asked for it? And why didn't they inform us about the case right away? ” Lilit asked.

”The barman said they threatened him and told him to tell them what they needed, otherwise he would end up in the hands of Tamam [Hovhannes Tamamyan]. When our waitress was taken in for questioning at 1:00 that same day, she was told that Tamamyan would question her personally. They called Tamamyan, but he refused to receive them. A little later Marine was suddenly rushed out of the building and told that they didn't need her anymore. ” Lilit is convinced that was gotten rid of quickly to prevent her from seeing what had happened.

The relatives of Levon Ghulyan have appealed to the Ombudsmen and have asked Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan for a meeting. Meanwhile, they plan to stage a rally in front of the Police Office.