Published
Tue, Apr 25, 2023, 10:15
- Staff and attendees were "brutally beaten up and even strip-searched," according to the venue.
Poligraf, a club in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, has spoken out following a violent police raid over the weekend.
According to a post on the club's Instagram, the raid took place in the early hours of Sunday, April 23rd. "Poligraf was raided by the RA [Republic of Armenia] police force without any legal grounds," the post read. "Everyone at the club was thrown down on the floor, treated like criminals and taken to the police department against their will."
Staff and attendees were also "brutally beaten up and even strip-searched," the club alleged. "The brutality that unfolded at our club is beyond our comprehension and completely unacceptable. We demand justice for everyone who has been hurt and traumatised by this egregious violation of our rights."
Following the incident, the authorities have forbidden Poligraf from reopening. In response, the club has launched an online petition, titled "Defend Dance," urging the dance music community to support its return.
"It's up to other institutions, artists, musicians, writers, dancers and anyone who values creativity and diversity to join us and sign this petition in demand for the State of Armenia to open the doors of Poligraf," the petition read.
Harmik Mackertoomian, Poligraf's head of communications, said the motivation for the raid was both "political and personal." Speaking to Resident Advisor, he said the situation stemmed from an incident last year, when an individual was refused entry and subsequently phoned the police to call in a bomb scare at the club. Nothing was found, which led to Poligraf opening a defamation case against the individual. But Mackertoomian said he's continued to spread misinformation about the club.
The individual's latest accusation is around drugs. "Around two weeks ago, he published a Facebook post accusing the owners of the club of selling methamphetamine, LSD and ecstasy to young people," said Mackertoomian. "The allegations are completely false, but this is how the situation [with the raid] started."
The individual is Edgar Babayan, who runs Armenian media company Tiv 1 and, according to Mackertoomian, is affiliated with numerous government officials. "His satellite media company is basically an extension of the government and the people that are involved," he said. "It's a textbook example of someone trying to frame us for things that are completely false."
Yesterday, Poligraf posted a second statement to Instagram, this time addressing the "false allegations" that have been made against the club. "We assure you that these claims are completely baseless and have been fabricated to justify the violent actions of the police," the post read.
The post also features CCTV footage of the raid, which shows dozens of officers forcefully entering the premises, pushing attendees to the floor and conducting searches. The video "clearly shows the excessive force used against us, and we will not rest until justice is served," the statement continued.
According to Mackertoomian, the police entered the venue without a search warrant, and so Poligraf plans to file a case against them. "We've gathered all the people whose rights have been violated," he said. "On a human rights level, we're filing lots of different cases against the police, the prosecutor's office and the ombudsman office."
Some social media commentators have highlighted Poligraf's status as a safe space for the city's LGBTQIA+ community, suggesting that this may have been another motivating factor for the raid. Mackertoomian agreed, detailing how queer-presenting attendees were "completely humiliated" by the officers.
The situation bears similarities to past events in neighbouring Georgia, where hostility from the authorities has only spurred on Tbilisi's defiant club scene. Bassiani, the city's most prominent club, shared a statement yesterday backing Poligraf.
"We express our full solidarity and support to Poligraf, and wish power to the Armenian electronic music and club communities," the post read. "We hope that everyone stays firm in defending what is achieved only by standing, dancing and fighting together."
Mackertoomian is worried that if Poligraf is forced to permanently close, Yerevan's remaining clubs will be next. "I've been living in Armenia for 19 years now, and I've seen how the government has killed the youth's spirit time and time again," he said. "This is just another example of how they're trying to kill any type of creativity that questions the status quo."
Read Poligraf's posts in full and sign the petition.
We'll report more on this story as it unfolds.