In an interview with azatutyun.am, the director of the General Prosecutor’s Indictment and Appeals Department Gevorg Baghdasaryan said that the accused are charged under article 316 because there was a premeditated intent to harm representatives of the state. He said that family members of four of the accused met with the Prosecutor General, who “gave concise answers to the families.” Torosyan who was one of those present at the meeting with the Prosecutor said he was told that if his brother pleads guilty, he would be released. However, none of the accused are prepared to do that.

When the reporter for Azatutyun asked Baghdasaryan how Article 316 could be applied, if the police officers sustained only minor injuries, Baghdasaryan said that even minor injuries can be considered dangerous to the health of the police officers and insisted that there is no political motivation in holding the accused in pre-trial detention. Regarding the fact that the police officers in question cannot identify the perpetrators, Baghdasaryan said, “When there are so many people involved, it is normal that the injured cannot recognize those who struck them.”

The families of the accused insist that charging the men under Article 316 is excessive and believe it is being done to serve as an example to others.

“There is not one single person who has been charged who is innocent - they used their arms, legs and stones to deliberately harm the police officers who had gone to do their job,” Baghdasaryan said. “Police officers were there to ensure the security of the people of Sari Tagh and to carry out their duties - no one is allowed to attack police officers.”

According to the official, the extent of the injuries is not important, but rather the fact that there was intent to harm them and therefore the charge brought against the men is appropriate.

Armenia’s Human Rights Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan told EVN Report that while he cannot comment on the specific case as it is still under investigation, the practice of detentions in Armenia should be changed. “Detention should be used as a measure of last resort,” Tatoyan said. “We don’t have presumption of liberty.” He went on to say that more than 90 percent of motions submitted to the court for detention are granted and this practice must be reevaluated.

The Ombudsman stressed that there are limitations to his jurisdiction and that his office cannot intervene in this specific case. Regarding the separation of the cases into four separate ones, Tatoyan said only that state resources should not be abused and if the lawyers have concerns, they should submit those to the investigation bodies and the court. “While we cannot intervene in the case, prison conditions however are under the full attention of the Ombudsman’s office,” Tatoyan said.

Today, Toros Torosyan’s family, like all other families who have loved ones in prison, must supply them with everything - from soap to bedding to food. They say that the conditions in Nubarashen Penitentiary are terrible. “We are allowed to take 70 kilos a month of goods to Toros,” Harutyun Torosyan’s wife explains. “We have to boil his clothes to get rid of the stench and the bugs.”

While Lala’s husband remains in prison, she is taking care of their daughter, her sister and her aunt’s 13 year-old grandson. She tells us that her daughter needs to see a psychologist and working as a manicurist, she can barely make ends meet. She says that while she is allowed to take up 70 kilos of goods to her husband, she can’t get enough money together to provide him with what he needs. “No one can eat prison food,” Lala says.