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PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF HAYRIKIAN SHOOTING
http://asbarez.com/108637/presidential-candidate-arrested-on-suspicion-of-hayrikian-shooting/
Tuesday, March 5th, 2013
Former presidential candidate Vartan Sedrakyan
YEREVAN (hetq.am)-Vardan Setrakyan, a candidate who ran in the
February 18 presidential election in Armenia, has just been arrested
on suspicion of ordering the January 31 shooting of Paruir Hayrikian.
This latest development is being reported by shamshyan.com. The news
outlet says the court is now reviewing a petition by Armenia's National
Security Service to keep Setrakyan in pre-trial custody.
Hayrikian, who also was a presidential candidate, was shot outside
his Yerevan home just before midnight that day. He was rushed to
hospital with wounds to his right collarbone.
Hayrikian, who spent years in Soviet jails for his dissident views,
believed that the shooting was the work of foreign intelligence
agencies, in particular Russia.
Khachatur Poghosyan and Samvel Haroutyunyan
On February 7, Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) arrested
two men as suspects in the shooting.
One was Khachatur Poghosyan (born 1972 who has a criminal record for
drug peddling), and Samvel Haroutyunyan (born 1972).
The NSS later stated that the two men provided details about the
attempted assassination attempt on Hayrikian. A revolver was found
in the house of one of the suspects during a police search. Forensic
experts claimed that a bullet found at the scene of the shooting had
been discharged by the same type of revolver.
It then turned out that the two suspects were known to Vardan
Setrakyan, a self-proclaimed specialist of national epics, who ran
what can be mildly called a quirky election campaign.
The suspects had performed repairs on Setrakyan's house. Setrakyan
declared that a Masonic organization based in Western Europe and the
United States were behind the hit on Hayrikian.
Setrakyan even went so far as to claim that presidential candidate
Raffi Hovannisian was a member of that secret organization.
Setrakyan argued that it was all a cleverly devised plot to link him to
the shooting, cause his arrest, and to remove him from the political
scene. He boasted that the West wanted to remove nationalists like
him in order to pave the way for a more pro-U.S.
foreign policy in Armenia.
During the campaign, Setrakyan predicted that he would win 81% of
the votes and would become the fourth president of Armenia.
At the same time, he even predicted that he would be arrested four
or five days after the February 18 election.
According to the official election results, Vardan Setrakyan came in
last out of a field of seven with 6,210 votes (0.5%.
Paryur Hayrikian, the candidate he is now charged with ordering the
attempted assassination against, received 18,096 votes.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
http://asbarez.com/108637/presidential-candidate-arrested-on-suspicion-of-hayrikian-shooting/
Tuesday, March 5th, 2013
Former presidential candidate Vartan Sedrakyan
YEREVAN (hetq.am)-Vardan Setrakyan, a candidate who ran in the
February 18 presidential election in Armenia, has just been arrested
on suspicion of ordering the January 31 shooting of Paruir Hayrikian.
This latest development is being reported by shamshyan.com. The news
outlet says the court is now reviewing a petition by Armenia's National
Security Service to keep Setrakyan in pre-trial custody.
Hayrikian, who also was a presidential candidate, was shot outside
his Yerevan home just before midnight that day. He was rushed to
hospital with wounds to his right collarbone.
Hayrikian, who spent years in Soviet jails for his dissident views,
believed that the shooting was the work of foreign intelligence
agencies, in particular Russia.
Khachatur Poghosyan and Samvel Haroutyunyan
On February 7, Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) arrested
two men as suspects in the shooting.
One was Khachatur Poghosyan (born 1972 who has a criminal record for
drug peddling), and Samvel Haroutyunyan (born 1972).
The NSS later stated that the two men provided details about the
attempted assassination attempt on Hayrikian. A revolver was found
in the house of one of the suspects during a police search. Forensic
experts claimed that a bullet found at the scene of the shooting had
been discharged by the same type of revolver.
It then turned out that the two suspects were known to Vardan
Setrakyan, a self-proclaimed specialist of national epics, who ran
what can be mildly called a quirky election campaign.
The suspects had performed repairs on Setrakyan's house. Setrakyan
declared that a Masonic organization based in Western Europe and the
United States were behind the hit on Hayrikian.
Setrakyan even went so far as to claim that presidential candidate
Raffi Hovannisian was a member of that secret organization.
Setrakyan argued that it was all a cleverly devised plot to link him to
the shooting, cause his arrest, and to remove him from the political
scene. He boasted that the West wanted to remove nationalists like
him in order to pave the way for a more pro-U.S.
foreign policy in Armenia.
During the campaign, Setrakyan predicted that he would win 81% of
the votes and would become the fourth president of Armenia.
At the same time, he even predicted that he would be arrested four
or five days after the February 18 election.
According to the official election results, Vardan Setrakyan came in
last out of a field of seven with 6,210 votes (0.5%.
Paryur Hayrikian, the candidate he is now charged with ordering the
attempted assassination against, received 18,096 votes.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress