Varpetyan

MEMORANDUM

Karapet Varpetyan (“Varpetyan”), a native and citizen of Armenia, petitions for review of a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) denying his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).

Varpetyan timely submitted an application for asylum claiming that he feared persecution by the Armenian government on account of his political activities with the Armenian National Movement (“ANM”). Varpetyan stated that he had been arrested and badly beaten by officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs because he refused to provide false testimony about other ANM members. An asylum officer referred Varpetyan’s case to the Immigration Court. While Varpetyan’s case was still pending in the Immigration Court, Varpetyan’s wife sent him a letter that had been delivered to their house in Armenia from the Office of the Public Prosecutor of Armenia (“Prosecutor’s Notice”) informing Varpetyan that he was required to appear before a government investigator. Varpetyan submitted the Prosecutor’s Notice to the Immigration Court in support of his asylum claim, and the government requested that Varpetyan…