Ombudsman of Artsakh demands that Prosecutor's Office should give clarifications on Hayk Khanumyan case

The Nagorno-Karabakh Ombudsman's Office has disseminated a statement on the case of beating of NKR lawmaker Hayk Khanumyan.    

According to the statement posted on the official website of the Ombudsman, during the pretrial investigation the NKR Ombudsman's Office received statements from the aggrieved party's representative and the defendants' lawyer.    

The NKR Ombudsman says that the public was properly informed of the course of investigation. Today the society is concerned about the fact that the article, under which the defendants face charges, has been reclassified from abduction (grievous crime) into hooliganism (medium-gravity crime). The prosecutor's office has rejected the complaint of the aggrieved party's representative about this decision. The society is also concerned over possible pardon on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the NKR's independence.  "That being said, the NKR Ombudsman considers that the prosecutor's office should present documentary and legal grounds of reclassification of the article and the clarification should be clear and comprehensible not only for lawyers but also for the wide public," the statement says.         
Upon completion of the process, the Ombudsman will make a final statement. 

To recall, on June 6 morning, Hayk Khanumyan, MP of the NKR National Assembly, Leader of the National Rebirth Party and supporter of Nagorno Karabakh's former Defense Minister Samvel Babayan was hospitalized after being beaten. Khanumyan has already said that he recognized seven of the people who were beating him.  The NKR Police instituted a criminal case over the beating of lawmaker Hayk Khanumyan. The press office of the NKR Police reported that based on the statement of Khanumyan's wife Diana Movsisyan, the criminal case was instituted under Article 129 Part 1 Items 1 and 2 of the NKR Criminal Code (abduction of a person, use of violence harming the person's life or health).  

Right after the beating of Khanumyan, NKR Ombudsman Ruben Melikyan condemned the attack on the lawmaker. "I strongly condemn any violence against the lawmaker and I expect the law-enforcement structures to conduct unbiased and comprehensive investigation," Melikyan said.