“Investigators pressure eyewitnesses”
Lawyers suggest making deals with the culprits by releasing them in exchange of receiving important information.
"This means that a person wants to give an important testimony, but is guilty for another act and wants compensation in exchange of his testimony that may serve as a basis for liquidating the fight against huge crimes," lawyer Ara Ghazaryan told "A1+".
He thinks sometimes certain prisoners can be released to catch "bigger fishes" and create an efficient system to fight against organized crime based on that principle.
The Helsinki Civil Assembly Vanadzor Office conducted a study on the protection of eyewitnesses' rights with support from the OSCE and released the results of that study today.
"The issue of eyewitnesses' protection is seriously troubling," the researchers concluded.
Head of Helsinki Civil Assembly Vanadzor Office's legal division Tatev Matinyan mentioned that the researchers had monitored 17 investigative bodies in Lori, Tavush and Shirak provinces.
"No monitored investigative division had a separate room for interrogation. The eyewitnesses are interrogated in the investigators' offices," Tatev Matinyan mentioned.
Public monitoring groups have no permission to enter those rooms and can't control them.
The investigative departments also don't have waiting rooms, which is a mandatory condition by law. "Eyewitnesses wait for hours in the investigators' offices and agree with them on what testimonies that they have to give," the lawyer mentioned.
The lawyers certify that eyewitnesses are subject to violence in the investigators' offices as well. According to the lawyers, what is troubling is the fact that the tortured person raises his voice about the violence that has been committed, but then denies it. "Eyewitnesses are called to the prosecutor's office and are subject to violence, imposed to deny their previous testimonies and not to complain anymore," lawyer Tatev Matinyan says.
