Yerevan Court to announce verdict in Harsnakar case
A court in Yerevan is to announce its ruling on the Harsnakar case at 2.00, March 24. On June 17, 2012, Vahe Avetyan, head of ENT (ear-nose-throat) department at the Defense Ministry’s Yerevan garrison hospital, and his three friends [also army doctors] were subjected to violent beating at the Harsnakar restaurant owned by former MP Ruben Hayrapetyan. After a 12-day fight for his life, Avetyan died in hospital on June 29 without regaining consciousness. The uproar following the death of the military doctor made Hayrapetyan renounce his mandate. Six people, including Ruben Hayrapetyan’s bodyguard, were arrested on charges of beating military physicians at the restaurant. Garik Margaryan, Arman Baghdasaryan, David Adamyan, Arman Khachatryan, Norayr Hayrapetyan and Arthur Babloyan are charged with Article 112, Part 1 of the Armenian Criminal Code (causing life-threatening bodily injuries to two and more persons). During the trial, the defendants said in their testimony that they had entered into a dispute with the military doctors, which later turned into a scuffle. However, at the end of the trial, Norayr Hayrapetyan announced that it he had beaten Avetyan alone. The other five defendants are now trying their best to prove that the charges against them are unfounded. If found guilty, they face up to 13 years in prison and a fine in the amount of AMD 100 000.
