Davtyan

MEMORANDUM **

Suren Davtyan, a native and citizen of Armenia, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) order dismissing his appeal from an Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) order which denied his applications for asylum, withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”).

We review for substantial evidence the BIA’s factual determinations regarding eligibility for relief. See Zheng v. Ashcroft, 332 F.3d 1186, 1193 (9th Cir.2003). Because the BIA assumed Davtyan was credible, we do so as well, despite a contrary finding by the IJ. See Krotova v. Gonzales, 416 F.3d 1080, 1084 (9th Cir.2005). We grant the petition for review in part and remand for further proceedings.

The BIA lacked substantial evidence to support its conclusion that Davtyan’s 1996 beating and detention by Armenian police was prosecution and not persecution. “We have consistently found persecution where ... the petitioner was physically harmed.” *577 Mamouzian v. Ashcroft, 890 F.3d 1129 , 1134 (9th Cir.2004). Davtyan, who belonged to an antigovernment party, was arrested for writing antigovernment slogans on walls and detained at a police station. He testified that…