Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that human rights defender, Mr Arshaluys Hakobyan, was arrested and beaten in Kentron District Police Department, Yerevan, on 5 June 2009. Arshaluys Hakobyan is a member of the human rights organisation, Helsinki Association, and the press photographer for their official web site.

Further Information

On the morning of 5 June 2009, Arshaluys Hakobyan was reportedly requested to present himself at the Kentron District Investigative Department in order to give a statement in relation to an incident that had occurred a few days earlier concerning his participation as an observer for the Helsinki Association in the elections for Mayor of Yerevan.

The human rights defender refused the request and told police officers that he would only go to the Investigative Department if presented with an official summons. According to information received, later that day, two policemen arrived at the human rights defender's home with a summons.

The “summons” reportedly contained no information about the person who was summoning Arshaluys Hakobyan or the reason why he was being summoned, and it was not even signed. Arshaluys Hakobyan refused to sign this paper. The police officers eventually forced him to sign it but, even so, Arshaluys Hakobyan signed it in the wrong place since he was not wearing his contact lenses at that time, which aggravated the police officers.

He then demanded that the police officers leave his house. The police officers called for police reinforcements and took him by force to Kentron District Police Department in Yerevan. At the police department, Arshaluys Hakobyan was beaten, handcuffed and taken to the Kentron District Investigative Department.

He was charged with “showing resistance against the Law Enforcement Bodies” in accordance with Article 316, part 1, of the Criminal Code of Armenia. Following questioning, he was taken to a pre-detention cell. On 6 June 2009, the court of first instance for the Kentron and Nork-Marash districts decided to grant the motion of the investigators in the case and confirmed Arshaluys Hakobyan's arrest, as a preventive punishment. He is still in detention.

On 31 May 2009 Arshaluys Hakobyan had participated as an observer for the Helsinki Association in the elections for Mayor of Yerevan, visiting the polling station No. 8/23 of Malatia-Sebastia district, Yerevan, along with other observers from the Helsinki Association.

Members and the head of the electoral commission prohibited them from carrying out the monitoring process. The observer group was escorted out of the polling station and the door was locked. Afterwards, according to information received, they were also threatened with physical consequences if they persisted with their monitoring activities. Arshaluys Hakobyan reported the incident to the Special Investigation Department of the Office of the General Prosecutor of Armenia.

According to sources, Arshaluys Hakobyan was arrested, beaten and continues to be detained in an attempt to penalise his legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights. Front Line is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of the aforementioned human rights defender.