HY RU EN
Asset 3

Loading

End of content No more pages to load

Your search did not match any articles

Liana Sayadyan

Edik Baghdasaryan questioned by police

On September 15, 2004 Hetq Online published information one of the men accused of attacking Ashot Manucharyan, a prominent political figure, who was severely beaten on April 22, 2004. Manucharyan had identified an attacker, named Vrezh, and Hetq printed the man's picture. This reawakened the keen interest of the police department of Yerevan's Kentron District, which had suspended its investigation two months after the assault.

Edik Baghdasaryan, who had reported the news, was invited to the police department for questioning as a witness the same day. He was asked how he had obtained the information, who had been present at the moment of identification, etc.

"Of course I gave some explanations, I told them that I had begun my investigation some time after the assault, that at some point I had worked with Ashot Manucharyan and his supporters, who had been conducting their own investigation. Manucharyan identified his attacker after looking through photographs from our archive.

"But as a journalist, I'm in a strange situation. Ashot Manucharyan refuses to cooperate with the investigators. He won't see them; he says he doesn't trust them. And in turn, the investigators ask me all the questions they have. Even reporters put their questions to me. But I haven't concluded my investigation yet-I'm still working on the case. Then on September 17 th something even stranger happened - Vrezh Osipyan, whose picture we had published, called me and we met."

Baghdasaryan says he learned that Vrezh Osipyan has not gone to the police, and that law enforcement agencies have not shown any interest in him, either. Osipyan doesn't want the journalist to concern himself with the case, which he insists he had nothing to with . Baghdasaryan also spoke with Osipyan about the violence against journalists during the April 5, 2004 opposition rally near Cinema Nairi, which he allegedly took part in, though he was never questioned in connection with the case. Osipyan acknowledges he was present, but insists he didn't take part in the attacks.

The investigators warned Baghdasaryan that he would be called in for questioning following the publication of any articles on the Ashot Manucharyan case. Ashot Manucharyan and his supporters have made no statement as yet, and refuse to speak to reporters.

Write a comment

If you found a typo you can notify us by selecting the text area and pressing CTRL+Enter