Syunik governor’s beating wasn’t a beating?
The RA Special Investigative Service has ended the preliminary investigation into the case instigated under Article 118 (beating) of the RA Criminal Code in relation to the incident that took place between Silva Hambardzumyan and Governor of Syunik province Surik Khachatryan at a café in Armenia-Marriot Hotel based on Silva Hambardzumyan's written statement, reports the press service of the Special Investigative Service.
Based on the preliminary investigation, it was corroborated that S. Khachatryan and S. Hambardzumyan had not been on good terms for a while. During the dispute between the mentioned individualsl at the Armenia-Marriot café, the governor had beaten (slapped) S. Hambardzumyan with this hand once. This fact was substantiated with evidence obtained through a preliminary investigation, including from eyewitnesses' testimonies, a video recording of the incident, which has been confiscated and has been attached to the case.
According to S. Hambardzumyan's testimony, she hadn't received injuries from S. Khachatryan's slap and had rejected a pass to a forensic medicine expert, while S. Khachatryan had said he regretted doing what he had done.
In this case, the above mentioned act is not an act that forms the objectivity of the crime prescribed by Article 118 of the RA Criminal Code, that is, attributes of a beating due to its uniqueness and not much importance since in the theory of criminal law, a "beating" is understood as several hits to cause physical harm.
Based on the evidence, a decision was taken on quashing the criminal case proceedings on 12 December 2011.
According to the order prescribed by the law, the sides have been notified about the decision and the legal mechanisms for appealing that decision.
