On August 11, 2008, a criminal case was initiated surrounding the assault on Lusineh Barseghyan, a reporter for the daily newspaper “Haykakan Zhamanak”. The case was halted exactly three months later, on November 11. The reporter’s assailants were never found despite the fact that the investigating body claimed that no stone was left unturned to uncover the truth.

“No gaffes were made in the case. Work was carried out according to procedure. You can criticize the police all you want. All angles were covered because the case was supervised by top officials,” stated Artashes Hovhannisyan, an investigator with the Police Department’s Nor Nork Investigative Unit, during a conversation with “Hetq”. Our investigation of the matter gives us grounds to argue that the investigative body didn’t satisfactorily carry out its probe of the crime. On August 11, 2008, at around 9:40 in the morning, “Haykakan Zhamanak” reporter Lusineh Barseghyan was assaulted by two unknown assailants.

“When I had left the house to go to work I noticed that a car parked by a nearby house started its engine and started to follow me. I thought that they might be employees of the National Security Service, since at the time they were looking for Nikol (Nikol Pashinyan, editor of the paper on the run and being sought by law enforcement for March 1st events – KA). All of us at the paper were being followed. I didn’t pay the car any attention but was puzzled that this time their movements were quite apparent. I had reached the steps and was descending when I noticed that the car pulled up close by. They got out of the car and proceeded to hit me. I yelled out and my screams attracted passersby. When my attackers saw a crowd forming, they fled the scene,” recounts Lusineh. Hearing Lusineh’s screams, a worker at a nearby gas station and some passersby ran to help the reporter, but by the time they reached the scene her attackers had managed to flee. Lusineh believes her assailants picked the staircase because it is usually desolate and presents an easy getaway. Lusineh also believes that there were two cars, not one. One of them was parked at the top of the stairs and the other at the bottom, making a getaway much easier. The entire incident happened so quickly that Lusineh couldn’t make out where the assailants fled to upon hearing the noise made by the individuals who were running to her aid. She didn’t even get a chance to see the faces of those hitting her. All she remembers is that they appeared to be in good physical shape and resembled skin-heads. “I was in shock. I hailed the first passing taxi with the intention of following the fleeing attackers. But they literally disappeared in a flash. This is why I believe that there was another car at the bottom of the stairs,” Lusineh states. On the street, while waiting at a red traffic light, Lusineh spotted a white “Moskvich” with a license plate bearing the number 15LU393. In the car she eyed the driver, wearing a police uniform, and in the back a man with a shaven head that resembled her attacker and another person. She remembers that these individuals seemed to be intently watching her. Injured, Lusineh managed to get to the paper’s office. They called an ambulance and she was taken to the Saint Grigor Lusavoritch Medical Center. The doctors examined her and diagnosed a hairline fracture to the head and hematoma. Investigators were able to find out that the Moskvich 21-41 vehicle with license plate #15 LU 393 belonged to Vahe Khachatryan, who resided at Apartment 111, Building 17, Nansen Street, Nor Nork First District, Yerevan. The car was being driven by his father Armen Khachatryan, a senior police officer at a Protection Directorate attached to the Central Division. The investigation revealed that on the evening of August 10, a day before the incident, Armen Khachatryan assumed his shift at the Triumph Coffee House on Isahakyan Street. He ended his shift the next morning at around 9:30. He then took Seyran Sargsyan, a worker at the coffee house, and Yuri Sargsyan, an electrical repairman, to Saryan Street in Yerevan. After dropping them off, Armen Khachatryan drove to the village of Akner in Lori Marz on personal business. No evidence implicating these three individuals in the assault case was ever uncovered. Since Lusineh was registered as a resident at the family home in Avan, the criminal case was assumed by the Nor Nork police precinct in accordance with Article 118 of the RoA Criminal Code (Beating or other forms of physical assault punishable by a minimum fine of one hundred times wages or a maximum imprisonment of two months) On August 12, the Nor Nork Investigative Unit officially launched their case. Investigator Artashes Hovhannisyan claims that the police were give special directives to set up an operational squad to uncover the identity of Lusineh’s two attackers, but that all their efforts were fruitless. A court forensics examination was appointed in the case. After being recognized as the aggrieved party, Lusineh was initially interviewed but never appeared to complete the forensic examination due to her busy schedule even though she was repeatedly requested to appear at the investigative unit. The investigator presented numerous notices to prove that Lusineh was informed, both by telephone and in writing, to appear before the court physician in order to arrive at a final assessment regarding the severity of the injuries she had sustained. “For a month they tried to convince me to go see the forensics doctor again. I explained to them that I didn’t have the time and because up till then they were only examining me, I didn’t see any sense in going back to the doctor again. As far as I could understand, they wanted me to go back to forensics and if there were no results it would be much easier for them to close the case,” Lusineh explains. Even though Lusineh didn’t appear for a forensic examination the second time, on November 11, the court physician issued a conclusion based on his initial examination – “The bodily injuries sustained by Lusineh Barseghyan caused minor harm to her health of a temporary nature”. Investigator Artashes Hovhannisyan states, “The case proceedings were halted despite the fact that operational intelligence activities continue till today.” Naturally, they never found out who my assailants were, even though I provided them with details that would have made it easy to find them,” Lusineh says. Lusineh says that the same car parked outside the entrance to her house at the time of the incident was seen surveilling the paper’s offices for a few days. The car was a deep purple “Zhiguli 06” make. People visiting the offices even spotted the car parked outside. A few days before the assault an individual named Garen visited the “Haykakan Zhamanak” office and introduced himself as being from the “Sargis Tkhrouni” youth wing. He said he wanted to see Lusineh. Busy at the time, Lusineh asked that the man wait a few minutes. When she went outside Garen had already left. The same person also visited the home of Lusineh’s parents. Norayr Barseghyan, Lusineh’s father, recounted that the young man asked about Lusineh, stating that he wanted to work for “Haykakan Zhamanak”. He was a man of about thirty-five with a round face and light hair. Mr. Barseghyan says, “I told the man to go to the paper’s office if he wanted to work there and I asked him why he had come to my house.” The man replied that he had already gone to the newspaper and that they had sent him to the home of Lusineh’s parents. Lusineh later found out that no such person as Garen existed in the “Sargis Tkhrouni” organization. She confidently states that, “They did their homework.” No composite sketch of Lusineh’s assailants was ever made since the reporter only saw them from behind and the passersby who came to her rescue were unknown. The investigator complains that Lusineh was pretty aloof when it came to taking measures to crack the case; she never showed up at the investigative office and didn’t assist in the examination. Lusineh argues that the police never intended to identify the culprits and that the whole investigative was merely a sham. “The same young man telephoned the newspaper office. I told the police the approximate time of the call. I they wanted to find out who he was they could have gone to the ArmenTel records. I could have described him as well,” states the reporter. According to the investigator, there was no need to come up with a composite sketch of the man calling himself Karen. “Karen wasn’t one of the perpetrators. Lusineh ties him to the assault but Karen came on the scene a week before it happened. She doesn’t know for sure, she’s merely making a supposition. She should have come to us to examine any possible connection,” says the investigator who adds that they explored all possible theories. What remains puzzling however is why the investigator is so convinced that this Karen character had no connection to the case. Even though many of them got a good look at Karen, Lusineh, “Haykakan Zhamanak” employees and Lusineh’s parents, the investigator claims that Lusineh’s recollection of Karen was spotty and that’s why no artist’s rendition was made. “We also interviewed the father and he wasn’t able to give us a good description,” states Investigator Khachatryan. Lusineh contradicts the claim and says that they never even interviewed members of the newspaper staff who saw the guy. Artashes Khachatryan says that they couldn’t come up with anything from the telephone records as well. “We tried to uncover his identity through the phone records but couldn’t. We called up Lusineh to verify some of the numbers but she refused to assist us.” We need to remind readers that Lusineh informed the police as to the approximate time that Karen called her at the office. It wouldn’t have been difficult for the investigators to check the calls, even in her absence. Lusineh says this young man wasn’t one of her attackers. Her assailants were guys with cleanly shaved heads while the man calling himself Karen had light colored hair. “With all these details any professional worth his weight in salt could have easily found these guys, but nothing of the sort happened. The case dragged on for some months and then they declared it closed,” says Lusineh and adds, “They never kept me abreast of the case. I only heard by accident that the case had been closed on the basis that there was no second witness and that evidence was insufficient. It was evident from the get-go that the case would never be solved because it was linked to my work as a reporter.” Prior to the incident the reporter had written a series of articles regarding the misuse of office by certain government officials. Particularly noted in the articles were National Assembly Deputy Samvel Alexanyan, Erebuni district leader Mher Sedrakyan, and the activities of Hovik Abrahamyan, who at the time headed the staff of Serzh Sargsyan. The reporter unabashedly states that, “I even told them that the number one suspect in my book was Erebuni district leader Mher Sedrakyan and that others might be involved as well; Hovik Abrahamyan for example. Furthermore, since they were tapping our phone conversations they knew that an article on police abuse was in the works.” (http://www.hzh.am/Arkhiv/2008/August/1308/13-08.html, http://www.hzh.am/Arkhiv/2008/August/0108/01-08.html) According to Investigator Khachatryan there were many possible theories as to the assault and all were approached from the viewpoint of the reporter’s professional activities. “She also gave us the name of National Assembly President Hovik Abrahamyan. Should we have paid him a visit and interrogated him,” asks the investigator who verifies that they didn’t question him. “She said that the assailants could have been his guys. Our operative unit followed up on the lead. If there was any connection we would have come up with it.” Investigator Khachatryan is quick to claim that all possible investigative procedures were carried out and stresses that, “by the way, the case was being directly supervised by the minister and even reached the personal staff of the president.” “Hetq” sent a written request to the RoA Prosecutor General to find out why a composite police sketch of the man called Karen was never made, why the phone records weren’t checked, and why “Haykakan Zhamanak” staff weren’t questioned. In response to our query, Mr. V. Shahinyan, Head of the Personal Assaults Division, stated, “…The RoA Deputy Prosecutor General forwarded a written directive to the Avan and Nor Nork District Prosecutor regarding the criminal case of bodily assault on Lusineh Barseghyan, instructing the district office to initiate an examination of the facts pertained therein.” “Hetq” sent a similar letter of inquiry to Chief of Police Alik Sargsyan. On April 8, we received a response from the Chief Investigative Department of the RoA Police signed by Lieutenant-Colonel S. Tzaghikyan. The response answered none of the questions we had raised. Below is an excerpt of the police statement. “…Regarding the points raised in your letter that the crime committed against Lusineh Barseghyan wasn’t solved due to the fact that a full and exhaustive preliminary examination wasn’t carried out and due to professional negligence, it is worth noting that a detailed review of the investigation executed by the Nor Nork investigative unit reveals that the entire matter was implemented adhering to the strict letter of the law according to the obligations as specified within the RoA Criminal Code of Jurisprudence, that all possible measures were taken to ensure an exhaustive and multi-faceted examination of the case and that all necessary juridical steps were taken during the preliminary investigation.” As to why the police failed to directly answer our questions and what investigative measures weren’t enacted in order to reveal those guilty of the crime, we’ll cover at a later date.