YEREVAN. – Hrachya Harutyunyan is in a mental hospital at present, his daughter Lilit told Armenian News-NEWS.am. 

She noted that they know that Armenia’s human rights defender traveled to Moscow in connection with Harutyunyan’s case, but they have no other information.   

“Now, my father is in a mental hospital; that’s what I’ve heard; [but] I can’t say whether or not this is true. There is a problem in connection with the brain as a consequence of the concussion; he [also] has a fractured elbow,” Lilit added.     

She informed that the family members have talked with Hrachya Harutyunyan’s attorney, who said Hrachya was doing fine. But the family could not yet speak with him in person.   

Furthermore, it was decided that no family member will head to Moscow because this is not worthwhile, since they cannot do anything more by being there.    

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, a truck crashed into a passenger bus on July 13 outside Moscow, and it was found out that the truck driver was an Armenian citizen by the name of Hrachya Harutyunyan. The impact of the crash was so powerful that the bus had split in two. The accident claimed 18 lives and about 50 others were hospitalized. The court had Harutyunyan arrested on July 15. To note, he was brought to the courtroom with slippers and a women’s robe. This fact caused widespread discontent among the Armenian public, and protests were staged across the Russian Embassy in Armenia.