“Seven of us lived in one room, where we didn't even have the most basic facilities. We would be kept partly hungry almost all the time – there would be days when we would eat dry bread, cabbage stems and even days when we would go hungry. We had already been working in those conditions for eight months when we learned that Ararat had not sent any money back to our families, even though he would swear on his brother's grave that our families were receiving payments regularly each month,” narrated 42-year old Robert Karapetyan, a resident of Gyumri.

The trial in the criminal case against Ararat Muradyan began in the Shirak Court of First Instance on December 8. He stands accused of taking Robert and Edgar Karapetyan as well as Ashot Grigoryan and to Almetyevsk in the Russian Federation's Republic of Tatarstan, where they were subjected to labor exploitation for more than a year.

Before moving to Tatarstan, Robert used to work at a construction site in Tsaghkadzor. When the work there was completed, he returned to Gyumri. He met Ararat, his cousin, at a relative's funeral in December 2003 in Gyumri and told him that he was in dire financial straits and looking for work. Ararat replied that one of his friends, Manvel, was setting up a team of laborers to work on a construction site in Tatarstan, and suggested that they leave together. Robert agreed and Ararat visited him some time later to discuss the details of the work. While talking to Robert and his wife Haikandukht Karapetyan, Ararat said that the salary of a skilled worker would come to 12,000 Russian rubles, around 400 dollars, while a laborer would be paid 11,000 rubles, around 300 dollars, from which a monthly living expense of 50 US dollars would be deducted.

Robert decided to take along his son Edgar, who had just turned 16, as well as his brother-in-law Ashot. “He was offering a decent amount of money. Because we're a large family, we also have a lot of problems – my eldest son was ill, there were expenses due to military service and university admission, so I thought that it wouldn't be a bad idea for my youngest son to go with Robert as well. I set Ararat the condition that Edgar was not to be separated from Robert, that they would always work together. He agreed,” said Haikandukht Karapetyan.

Ararat then told them that he did not have enough money to cover travel expenses, and that they would have to raise the amount. He assured them that the money would be sent home no later than 20 days after they arrived. So Robert and Ashot borrowed 300 dollars with interest and left the country on April 25. As soon as they arrived, Robert and Ashot learned that they were to work under Ararat's supervision. Ararat joined Robert, Edgar and Ashot to another group of laborers and put them all up in a room he had rented in a village called Tikhsnab, not far from Almetyevsk. The only furniture in the room was the beds.

“We would go to work at 7 am, sometimes even at 6. Although we had earlier agreed to work only up to 7 pm or 8 at the latest, there would be nights when we would come home at 1 or 2 am. We didn't eat well. I got sick once but he didn't buy any medicine or even call a doctor. If we asked for something he would say, ‘I don't have any money. You aren't working well, the money is too little.' But he would swear that he was sending our salaries home,” narrated Ashot Grigoryan.

Some time later, Ararat took their passports under the pretext of arranging for their registration. He then announced that there was no work and that he would have to send them to work under another group leader. In June 2004, Ararat sent Robert to the village of Nurlat without Edgar. After working there for around 7 months, Robert returned to find that Edgar had been cruelly beaten by Ararat.

“The child had said, ‘Give me some money to call home and see how things are.' He beat the boy. Later, he gave him a broken telephone and promised to buy calling credit for it, but did nothing. He would often be drunk when he came and would cause fights. But we couldn't complain because he had good relations with the police,” Robert Karapetyan testified in court.

Ashot Grigoryan was beaten a number of times as well, when he asked Ararat for his passport in order to return home. And so, for months on end, Ararat would make money by having the Karapetyans and Ashot work in various groups, but would then tell them that the employers did not pay because they had not done their work well.

Meanwhile, Haikandukht Karapetyan visited Ararat Muradyan's Gyumri home to get some news from his family.

“They didn't treat me very well. They would be rude and say that they have no news. Once, I came home after going to his place and Ararat called. He threatened me and demanded that I stop bothering his family. I talked to Robert then and told him that his father was unwell, that our eldest son had been hospitalized and the interest on the borrowed sum was piling up – we needed money. He was surprised; he thought we had been receiving money all this time. He then seemed to hold back and said that everything would be all right, that I should not complain. Ararat called once and said that if I bothered his family again or filed complaints he would send me Edgar's head in a bag,” narrated Haikandukht.

However, Haikandukht started filing complaints with various bodies in November 2004. Investigation began into the case of Robert and Edgar Harutyunyan and Ashot Grigoryan. Moscow was notified, after which they contacted Tatarstan. In May 2005, Robert Karapetyan was arrested by the Tatarstan Migration Department and send to Kazan. Robert spent two months in a Kazan prison, during which time his son Edgar and Ashot were arrested. Robert, Edgar and Ashot returned to Armenia in July.

Ararat Muradyan refused to answer questions during his trial, citing his preliminary statement instead. Muradyan had said in his preliminary statement that Robert Karapetyan had tricked him by not working well and causing complaints even though he was a skilled laborer. He did not receive any money because Edgar and Ashot had not worked well either. He said that the beatings and bad food were all lies. Besides this, he said that he had paid them a certain amount of money, which he was unable to prove.

On December 12, the court, Judge Edik Manukyan found Ararat Muradyan guilty and sentenced him to five years imprisonment and required him to pay Robert and Edgar Karapetyan and Ashot Grigoryan a sum of 11,400 US dollars.