Lawyer: Reporter Abraham Gasparyan brutally beaten by 20 police officers

Lawyer Arsen Babayan denounced the “unprecedented” police violence against protesters demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation outside the Armenian parliament on June 12, which injured dozens of civilians, including journalists.

Speaking at a joint news conference with the protest leader, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, on Wednesday, the lawyer charged that the police violence, including the use of stun grenades and other forceful tactics, was ordered by the authorities as a punitive measure against demonstrators and reporters.

“For example, journalist and political analyst Abraham Gasparyan was isolated and brutally beaten by some 20 red berets (special police forces),” Babayan said.

He rejected the accusations of mass unrest and hooliganism against protesters.

"The corpus delicti of involvement in mass riots must feature elements of violence. Since it is impossible to commit violence using plastic bottles, people began to be detained on charges of hooliganism," the lawyer explained.