Yerevan’s Erebuni police station was seized by anti-government gunmen on July 17, 2016 (Photo: Photolur)
YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—One of the opposition gunmen who seized a police station in Yerevan in July has been charged with killing a police officer during their two-week standoff with Armenian security forces, it emerged on November 15.
Smbat Barseghian is the first member of the armed group to face a murder charge in the ongoing criminal investigation into the attack. He and 43 other individuals kept under arrest have until now been accused of only seizing state buildings, taking hostages or illegally acquiring weapons.
The gunmen seized the police compound in Yerevan’s southern Erebuni district on July 17 to demand President Serzh Sarkisian’s resignation and the release of Jirair Sefilian, the jailed leader of their Founding Parliament radical opposition group.
One of the police officers shot in the attack, Colonel Artur Vanoyan, died on the spot. Another officer, Gagik Mkrtchian, succumbed to his chest and abdomen wounds on August 13.
Funeral of police officer Yuri Tepanosian, who was killed during a standoff between policemen and opposition gunmen (Photo: Photolur)
The third police casualty, Yuri Tepanosian, was killed on July 30, the day before the 20 remaining gunmen holed up in the Erebuni compound surrendered to the Armenian authorities. The police said the 30-year-old Tepanosian was shot by one of the gunmen as he sat in a police car parked about 400 meters from the besieged compound.
Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General said on Tuesday that Barseghian stands accused of murdering Tepanosian.
Barseghian’s lawyer, Hayk Alumian, said his client denies the murder charge but declined to comment further. “I can only say that Smbat Barseghian does not consider himself guilty,â€
