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  • Hans Boon: I Have Worked In Over 50 Developing States, However This

    HANS BOON: I HAVE WORKED IN OVER 50 DEVELOPING STATES, HOWEVER THIS WAS A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE

    ArmInfo
    2008-11-28 22:45:00

    ArmInfo. 'I have worked in over 50 developing states. However this
    was a unique experience and maybe useful or of interest for any
    foreigner without Armenian family relations', says Hans Boon, the
    director general of HayPost CJSC, in a letter to ArmInfo.

    'In this message I would like to provide you with some of the facts
    and backgrounds and experience regarding the two violent attacks,
    because I am really surprised about the observation that I did not
    provide any statement to the Police. The opposite could also be said. I
    have received other similar comments and therefore I hope to clarify
    this. I have definitely no objection if you provide this statement
    to the Police and other official investigators. I do not know how to
    reach them and in fact have delivered information', Boon says.

    Further in the letter, Hans Boon tells: 'The attack on 10 October
    2008 took place in the late evening. The violent, and possibly quick,
    attack must have been organized very well- probably from the back.

    The attack included about 5 or more severe beatings on different
    places of my head. It must be stated only on my head, no other places
    of the body. The attack has resulted in loss of memory of that moment,
    in combination with the loss of conscience for about 12 hours.

    Consequently I do not know or do not remember who the assailant was
    and how it was done. It must be stated however that it was not a
    medical issue, like a heart attack. After the assault I must have
    fallen down on the street, and nearby living inhabitants are said
    to have made a call to Police or Hospital to report that a heavily
    wounded or death corpse was found on the street.

    The Hospital car or ambulance came and both the doctors and a police
    officer made an analysis, confirming that it was the result of a
    criminal attack but also noting that my body was alive. A colleague of
    HayPost was also alarmed, possibly by me in one of the moments awake.

    The next day around noon I regained more normal conscience and also
    better memory. Most of the above between the assault and recuperation
    of conscience has been told to me.

    The hospital St. Grigor Lusavorich charged more than AMD 400,000/Euro
    1100 for the 1 night stay and research, and explained that it charges
    to foreigners five times the rate to Armenians.

    The hospital looked in a very poor condition and therefore it was
    decided to leave it and to rest in the apartment. The hospital had
    partially undressed me and I received my clothes back. I noticed that
    the wallet was not there anymore.

    The wallet had in cash an equivalent of around AMD 400,000 - partially
    in Armenian Dram [around AMD 200,000], Russian Rouble, US Dollars and
    Euros, in addition several creditcards [not bankcards] , and a European
    Union ID Card and a special card for the Amsterdam International
    Airport. It is not clear whether the wallet has disappeared or fallen
    out of the clothes in the hospital or the ambulance, but most likely
    it has been stolen as part of the attack.

    In any case, since then I have requested via the HayPost company
    lawyer, a Mr Arayk Abrahayan for a police report,. This has been
    requested orally, by email and by telephone to him and other colleagues
    more than 15 times The request has eventually also been reported to
    the Minister of the Economy .

    The issue is that without such report on the police observation
    and notification, the process in The Netherlands with the Insurance
    companies, the Credit card companies and the official authorities
    issuing IDs is very difficult and that brings additional damages of
    1000s of Euros to me.

    However, a request to communicate with the police and to obtain the
    report remains unanswered by the Armenian side.

    In stead I was informed via an other colleague that the Police had
    called the Chief Company Lawyer, [ex CBA] about 20 days after the
    assault, i.e. early November 2008. It means when I was already in
    The Netherlands.

    The Police had asked him to request me to appear at the Police
    Station. The colleagues reported that the Company Lawyer stated that
    I refused.

    Subsequently the Police is said to have stated that I would be
    imprisoned to ensure my availability for the interrogation. This was
    very shocking information.

    Subsequently the Police have been visited on 11 November by the
    colleague, Mr A Khachaturyan, who also was during the night or
    morning of the assault in the hospital. He is said to have made a 3
    page statement clarifying the details situation as above described,
    although I do not have any written evidence from the Police or via
    the lawyers. It was also stated that the Police had requested that
    I need to provide all my clothes that I had during the attack. That
    request came also in the first half of November 2008 and the Police
    must also have known from the reports that the assault was entirely
    focused on the head, with 5 or more beatings and not on other places
    of the body. It is has remained unclear why the Police is said to
    have made that request at that time. Most of the clothes have been
    cleaned, washed and or used after the attack, and it is unclear what
    the Police expects to find that long after the attack, however it
    would mean for me another expense of more than Euro 1000 in loss
    of clothes and transportation costs. The clothes taken of the first
    assault in July 2008 have also not been returned.

    It has also been stated that more colleagues were planned to be
    interrogated, such as a driver and a (daytime) security guard,
    company assistant and housekeeper. According to a newspaper this
    has happened, most likely in the first of half of November. I am not
    informed about this and have no report, but read in the internet news
    that it was stated that most of the persons mentioned that they do not
    know my private life. It would have been correct to state that there
    is practically no private life, except from a dinner in a restaurant
    and a visit to shops or a walk on the streets during the weekend..

    I should mention that I have never received a request from the Police,
    only heard about it via colleagues and these requests were never in a
    non-Armenian language and as far as requests were received or noted
    it has been responded to but none of the requests known to me refer
    to details of the assault and circumstances.

    All kind requests from my side via Armenian legal staff to provide
    to me a written police confirmation of the attack and theft remain
    unanswered.

    The following questions and impressions appear: Why does the police
    start an investigation more than 20 days after the attack, that
    could have resulted in death, therefore an attempt-to-murder case,
    and what is the quality and depth of the investigation. One of the
    media reported that the Police needs a Court decision in order to be
    allowed to investigate the possibility of a combination between the
    two attacks- why ?

    The first Assault on the evening of 12 July 2008 which was a so-called
    hooliganism attack by 2 persons first attempting to hit by car me
    twice and subsequently by beating in a way that it would have resulted
    in death, has lead to a verdict in November 2008. One of the persons
    will walk free in Yerevan early 2009 and the other a bit later early
    2009. The case was also a special experience.

    It started for my Dutch colleague and me with heavy wounds , including
    bleeding. The Police initially refused to arrange First Aid, and when
    an Armenian colleague was able to intervene after nearly 2 hours of
    bleeding in the Police Station, the Police prohibited and called a
    Ambulance. The First Aid treatment resulted in 2 days hospitalization
    due to the heavy wounds.

    Then, friendly police officers came to visit after treatment. They
    were asked how the criminal prosecution would proceed. Initially
    they started laughing and after the smile they explained that the
    normal Armenian way is that there is no prosecution but that the
    family representatives will approach us with an offer. This scared
    us and we requested how we can ensure our security, because we are
    not interested in such an approach.

    Subsequently the Trust Founder to whom we report, tried to promote
    the intermediation in such a typical Armenian approach. It was however
    understood that we expected that the Rule of Law should prevail.

    The Police insisted on several hearings/interviews, in total more
    than 30 hours have been by each of us spent with the police to repeat
    every time the details of that assault of less than 7 minutes. All
    statements have been interpreted by a qualified interpreter and have
    been written manually by the Police. Initially none of the statements,
    neither ours nor those of the attackers were accessible. At the end
    of September we learned from the Netherlands Ambassador that a file
    with more than 450 pages had been prepared. On our request, via the
    Company lawyer, on documentation, no answer has been provided. We
    also heard that the scheduled Court session of early October was
    postponed to November because it was said not be convenient for the
    barristers of the two who attacked us. We received a 10 line message
    on the final outcome of the court session from the lawyer and also a
    confirmation that the damages claimed had been paid. The impression
    is that the lawyer, in my absence, had been instructed to "prioritize"
    other activities, but this is an impression.

    The Netherlands Minister of Justice officially complained in July
    2008 about the police treatment of its 2 citizens, keeping them
    nearly 2 hours wounded and without first aid in a police station. It
    is said that the Armenian side has investigated and responded to the
    Ambassador that the Dutch statements are not (completely) true and
    that the First Aid was arranged rapidly. There has been no excuse
    for this type of treatment from the official Armenian side.

    The impression is that the first attack is not done and executed by
    the same persons as the second attack. It is also not possible to form
    evidence whether the two attacks were organized by a higher level of
    politically and economically interested parties. The Head of Police
    should have received a letter from me, but no response and also I do
    not know how to reach him.

    This all represents a unique experience and maybe useful or of interest
    for any foreigner without Armenian family relations'.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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