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"THREAT" OR "POLITICAL THREAT"?: TIMING OF ARF MEMBER ARREST QUESTIONED IN CASE OF ILLEGAL WEAPONS
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
02.03.12 | 13:40
Photo: www.police.am
A cache of illegal ammunition and weaponry belonging to Armenian
Revolutionary Party member Arshavir Karapetyan, and discovered
by police on Thursday in Yerevan, has stirred suspicions of a new
political "witch hunt".
The arsenal adjoining to a boiler structure at Moldovyan 12 was found
by law enforcement under Chief of Police Vova Gasparyan's leadership.
Among the discovered weaponry were more than 12 machine guns, sniper
rifles, three anti-tank missiles, thousands of bullets, a great number
of TNT explosives enough to blow up several buildings, expert say, etc.
Karapetyan, a Karabakh war veteran, is in custody, and a criminal case
has been filed against him that could carry a three-year sentence if
found guilty.
Ashot Karapetyan, heading the criminal investigation department of
RA Police, says the ammunition is "of unprecedented amount enough to
arm a whole battalion and the purposes still have to be determined".
The discussions and speculations among the political circles,
however, are more about the timing of the discovery - why has it
been discovered and the information disclosed now, rather than the
purposes of the arsenal.
The ARF's recently active opposition, boycotts at the parliament and
rallies, and finally, ARF Bureau member Hrant Margaryan's statement
claiming that they would ensure fair elections by enrolling thousands
of volunteers have coincided with the efforts of the police.
As a result of similar diligence late last year "large amounts
of drugs" were discovered in possession of a number of Prosperous
Armenia Party members, four of them were taken under arrest, which
was qualified then as a "witch hunt" by PAP faction member, MP Naira
Zohrabyan.
PAP members said that the "inquisitional processes" stopped when party
leader Gagik Tsarukyan agreed to the conditions of holding elections
"by rules of civilized competition" suggested by the coalition and
gave up his claims of putting forward single-mandate candidates at
41 election districts.
ARF is refraining from making any comments yet, confirming only that
Arshavir Karapetyan is indeed their party member.
Spartak Seyranyan in charge of ARF press service doubts Karapetyan
has anything to do with the weapons.
"Arshavir Karapetyan is an ARF member. He's fought in a war. What can
I say, he has nothing to do with the arsenal, but in any case let the
preliminary investigation show. I don't want to express opinions. My
assumption is that he is not related," Seyranyan told Panorama.am.
Former Chief-of-Police Suren Abrahamyan welcomes the police's efforts
and the work done due to which it's been possible to "neutralize an
illegal arsenal with such huge amounts of highly dangerous weaponry",
at the same time wonders why it's been discovered now of all times.
"It's perhaps too early to make far-reaching assumptions, but
experience shows that possible steps to silence will be taken,"
Abrahamyan told ArmeniaNow not ruling out that this might be one
such step.
From: Baghdasarian
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow
02.03.12 | 13:40
Photo: www.police.am
A cache of illegal ammunition and weaponry belonging to Armenian
Revolutionary Party member Arshavir Karapetyan, and discovered
by police on Thursday in Yerevan, has stirred suspicions of a new
political "witch hunt".
The arsenal adjoining to a boiler structure at Moldovyan 12 was found
by law enforcement under Chief of Police Vova Gasparyan's leadership.
Among the discovered weaponry were more than 12 machine guns, sniper
rifles, three anti-tank missiles, thousands of bullets, a great number
of TNT explosives enough to blow up several buildings, expert say, etc.
Karapetyan, a Karabakh war veteran, is in custody, and a criminal case
has been filed against him that could carry a three-year sentence if
found guilty.
Ashot Karapetyan, heading the criminal investigation department of
RA Police, says the ammunition is "of unprecedented amount enough to
arm a whole battalion and the purposes still have to be determined".
The discussions and speculations among the political circles,
however, are more about the timing of the discovery - why has it
been discovered and the information disclosed now, rather than the
purposes of the arsenal.
The ARF's recently active opposition, boycotts at the parliament and
rallies, and finally, ARF Bureau member Hrant Margaryan's statement
claiming that they would ensure fair elections by enrolling thousands
of volunteers have coincided with the efforts of the police.
As a result of similar diligence late last year "large amounts
of drugs" were discovered in possession of a number of Prosperous
Armenia Party members, four of them were taken under arrest, which
was qualified then as a "witch hunt" by PAP faction member, MP Naira
Zohrabyan.
PAP members said that the "inquisitional processes" stopped when party
leader Gagik Tsarukyan agreed to the conditions of holding elections
"by rules of civilized competition" suggested by the coalition and
gave up his claims of putting forward single-mandate candidates at
41 election districts.
ARF is refraining from making any comments yet, confirming only that
Arshavir Karapetyan is indeed their party member.
Spartak Seyranyan in charge of ARF press service doubts Karapetyan
has anything to do with the weapons.
"Arshavir Karapetyan is an ARF member. He's fought in a war. What can
I say, he has nothing to do with the arsenal, but in any case let the
preliminary investigation show. I don't want to express opinions. My
assumption is that he is not related," Seyranyan told Panorama.am.
Former Chief-of-Police Suren Abrahamyan welcomes the police's efforts
and the work done due to which it's been possible to "neutralize an
illegal arsenal with such huge amounts of highly dangerous weaponry",
at the same time wonders why it's been discovered now of all times.
"It's perhaps too early to make far-reaching assumptions, but
experience shows that possible steps to silence will be taken,"
Abrahamyan told ArmeniaNow not ruling out that this might be one
such step.
From: Baghdasarian