The Armenia Prosecutor General’s office verified the Hetq story, and discovered that Hovhannisyan was indeed making his patients work, calling the labor a form of therapy. Forced labor wasn’t’ the only abuse either. One patient in Hetq’s story recounted being beaten. Another said that they were given nothing to eat for lunch.
Vardenis is a final stop for those deemed to be untreatable, Hetq reported. The patients there need heavy medication and lots of supervision. But reporters found that the only people looking after the patients were Hovyhannisyan’s friends.
