Injured Person in Critical Condition After Assault: Suspect Known as 'Areshtsi Zmey'

The Investigative Committee of Armenia has initiated a criminal case in the Erevan Investigative Department based on the characteristics outlined in Article 112, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

According to photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan, the head of the investigative department, General-Major of Justice Arthur Goyunyan, has appointed Senior Investigator Samvel Petrosyan as the head of the investigative group. The criminal case concerns the assault of 33-year-old Albert Markosyan, a resident of Atoyan Passage in Erevan.

As reported by G. Shamshyan, police detectives from the criminal investigation units of the Erevan City Police Department and the community police divisions have determined that Markosyan sustained injuries in the Erevan administrative area. He was transferred to the 'Erebuni' Medical Center with a critical diagnosis on February 16 at around 20:30, where he remains in intensive care.

According to reports, Markosyan was taken to the hospital by his father, while his mother discovered him in a bloody state after he was assaulted in the Freedom Fighters' Park. Police and investigators have established that Markosyan was brutally beaten by 48-year-old Hovhannes Mirakyan, nicknamed 'Zmey', who also lives in Atoyan Passage.

As part of the criminal case, the senior investigator has submitted a request to the Erevan General Jurisdiction Court for permission to conduct a search of Mirakyan's home.

According to sources close to the situation, the motive for the brutal assault by Mirakyan was linked to an incident approximately four months earlier, where Markosyan had allegedly stabbed Mirakyan. They had concealed the details of the incident, and on February 16, they met in the Freedom Fighters' Park around 16:00 to settle old scores, during which the assault occurred.

G. Shamshyan reports that Mirakyan is employed as a senior specialist at the South Caucasus Railway Closed Joint-Stock Company, and the investigator plans to file another request with the court to declare him wanted.