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VICTIM ON THE DEFENSIVE: ASSASSINATION PLOT SURVIVOR ENRAGED BY QUESTIONS OVER CASE EVIDENCE
Human rights | 21.06.13 | 12:34
Photolure
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Former presidential candidate Paruyr Hayrikyan, who survived an
apparent assassination attempt in the middle of the election race
earlier this year, now has to answer questions as to why the coat,
jacket and shirt that he wore on the day of the attack did not have
bullet holes.
Enlarge Photo
Hayrikyan's bloodstained clothes had been examined in the court as
tangible evidence of the attack. It became clear from the publication
of the results that it was impossible to determine when the shots were
made as well as the sequence of the shots.
The Soviet-era dissident reacted angrily to speculations that spread
based on the news that no bullet holes were found on his clothes. "I
know all the wounds that I have on my body. I don't care a bit about
what the dumbasses might say," he told media. Hayrikyan did not rule
out that his clothes could have opened up when he made an abrupt
movement to deflect the first of the two shots that only scratched his
forearm. The second shot, according to the materials in the case, hit
Hayrikyan in the right side upper chest area.
Hayrikyan continued to batter his critics on Facebook where he left a
few poignant comments on his account about people asking questions
about the evidence.
The shooting attack on Hayrikyan took place on January 31 night as he
was returning home after a campaign outing. Two men were arrested a
week later in connection with the attack. Khachatur Poghosyan, who,
according to investigators, shot at Hayrikyan, and his accomplice
Samvel Harutyunyan, proved to be acquaintances of another presidential
candidate, Vardan Sedrakyan, an obscure politician who was not known
to the general public before engaging in the campaign.
Sedrakyan was arrested soon after the end of the presidential
elections and was charged with masterminding the attack. He protested
his innocence, claiming to be a victim of an elaborate frame-up.
During the latest court sessions Poghosyan and Harutyunyan, however,
changed their preliminary testimonies, insisting that Sedrakyan wasn't
the one who commissioned the attack. Harutyunyan, in particular, said
that by giving Sedrakyan's name he intended to blackmail him and
extort money from him. And Poghosyan said that he was told only to
scare Hayrikyan. To the question as to why particularly Hayrikyan, he
was told that "it is none of your business".
On Thursday evening Hayrikyan was hosted on the prime time talk show
on Public TV H1 with Nver Mnatsakanyan. During the entire program he
claimed that 'Russian chauvinist circles' were behind the
assassination attempt against him as they feared by being elected
president he could become "Armenia's Nelson Mandela". He also
protested the speculation that the attack was carried out only to
scare him off as alleged by one of the defendants, insisting that it
was by mere chance that he escaped what had been meant as a certain
death for him. And Sedrakyan, he claimed, was "just a link in this
criminal chain."
"I would be glad if it proved that Vardan Sedrakyan had nothing to do
with it, but he is only a link. In November a sum of $100,000 was sent
to Sedrakyan from Russia. Sedrakyan did not explain why people who
knew him for only two years agreed to send him such a huge sum of
money," charged Hayrikyan, claiming to possess documents about the
'chauvinist circles' and promising to publish details later on.
Hayrikyan further described the actions of the Sedrakyan defense
counsel as a show and did not exclude that defendants Poghosyan and
Harutyunyan had changed their preliminary testimonies under certain
pressure.
After the new testimony from the two defendants, Sedrakyan again asked
the court to change the measure of restraint against him. Sedrakyan's
lawyer Alexander Sirunyan told ArmeniaNow that he is likely to make a
formal request for his client to be released on bail already at the
next court hearing when his clients is due to give testimony.
http://armenianow.com/society/human_rights/47108/trial_eposaget_vardan_sedrakyan_paruyr_hayrikyan_s hooting_evidence
From: Baghdasarian
Human rights | 21.06.13 | 12:34
Photolure
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Former presidential candidate Paruyr Hayrikyan, who survived an
apparent assassination attempt in the middle of the election race
earlier this year, now has to answer questions as to why the coat,
jacket and shirt that he wore on the day of the attack did not have
bullet holes.
Enlarge Photo
Hayrikyan's bloodstained clothes had been examined in the court as
tangible evidence of the attack. It became clear from the publication
of the results that it was impossible to determine when the shots were
made as well as the sequence of the shots.
The Soviet-era dissident reacted angrily to speculations that spread
based on the news that no bullet holes were found on his clothes. "I
know all the wounds that I have on my body. I don't care a bit about
what the dumbasses might say," he told media. Hayrikyan did not rule
out that his clothes could have opened up when he made an abrupt
movement to deflect the first of the two shots that only scratched his
forearm. The second shot, according to the materials in the case, hit
Hayrikyan in the right side upper chest area.
Hayrikyan continued to batter his critics on Facebook where he left a
few poignant comments on his account about people asking questions
about the evidence.
The shooting attack on Hayrikyan took place on January 31 night as he
was returning home after a campaign outing. Two men were arrested a
week later in connection with the attack. Khachatur Poghosyan, who,
according to investigators, shot at Hayrikyan, and his accomplice
Samvel Harutyunyan, proved to be acquaintances of another presidential
candidate, Vardan Sedrakyan, an obscure politician who was not known
to the general public before engaging in the campaign.
Sedrakyan was arrested soon after the end of the presidential
elections and was charged with masterminding the attack. He protested
his innocence, claiming to be a victim of an elaborate frame-up.
During the latest court sessions Poghosyan and Harutyunyan, however,
changed their preliminary testimonies, insisting that Sedrakyan wasn't
the one who commissioned the attack. Harutyunyan, in particular, said
that by giving Sedrakyan's name he intended to blackmail him and
extort money from him. And Poghosyan said that he was told only to
scare Hayrikyan. To the question as to why particularly Hayrikyan, he
was told that "it is none of your business".
On Thursday evening Hayrikyan was hosted on the prime time talk show
on Public TV H1 with Nver Mnatsakanyan. During the entire program he
claimed that 'Russian chauvinist circles' were behind the
assassination attempt against him as they feared by being elected
president he could become "Armenia's Nelson Mandela". He also
protested the speculation that the attack was carried out only to
scare him off as alleged by one of the defendants, insisting that it
was by mere chance that he escaped what had been meant as a certain
death for him. And Sedrakyan, he claimed, was "just a link in this
criminal chain."
"I would be glad if it proved that Vardan Sedrakyan had nothing to do
with it, but he is only a link. In November a sum of $100,000 was sent
to Sedrakyan from Russia. Sedrakyan did not explain why people who
knew him for only two years agreed to send him such a huge sum of
money," charged Hayrikyan, claiming to possess documents about the
'chauvinist circles' and promising to publish details later on.
Hayrikyan further described the actions of the Sedrakyan defense
counsel as a show and did not exclude that defendants Poghosyan and
Harutyunyan had changed their preliminary testimonies under certain
pressure.
After the new testimony from the two defendants, Sedrakyan again asked
the court to change the measure of restraint against him. Sedrakyan's
lawyer Alexander Sirunyan told ArmeniaNow that he is likely to make a
formal request for his client to be released on bail already at the
next court hearing when his clients is due to give testimony.
http://armenianow.com/society/human_rights/47108/trial_eposaget_vardan_sedrakyan_paruyr_hayrikyan_s hooting_evidence
From: Baghdasarian