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Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
May 13 2013
Death for intractability
13 May 2013 - 1:15pm
Author: David Stepanyan, Yerevan, exclusively to VK
A scandal erupted in the penal and judicial system of Armenia. In the
"Nubarashen" penitentiary institution in the Ararat region
businessman, a U.S. citizen of Armenian origin, George Bagumyan, died
under arrest. The 65-year-old entrepreneur owned a company producing
batteries for the defense industry and the military founded in early
1990 by his father in Armenia.
On October 27, 2012 Bagumyan was charged with tax evasion and illegal
possession of weapons, after which he was arrested. Bagumyan was
accused of failing to pay taxes to the amount of 16 million drams,
which, after various fines, reached 41 million drams. But the charges
did not involve his arrest and detention. According to Bagumyan's
lawyer Mushegh Shushanyan, his client had previously suffered a heart
attack, suffered from hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and in the last
days of his life was on his deathbed. The lawyer thrice petitioned for
bail in the amount of 2,000,000 drams, but to no avail. At the last
meeting on April 22 the judge once again dismissed the defense of
Bagumyan's side in the application for bail. After that, the lawyer
said that if the judge granted the request of the investigator and
extended the term of imprisonment for two months, it would be nothing
more than a death sentence. In his last days the businessman was
detained in the prison infirmary, where he could not get medical care,
as in the penitentiary institution, which contained 1,200 prisoners,
there was only one nurse. In this prison a lot of seriously ill
prisoners are detained, in particular, Boris Petrossian, staying there
from July 2012, although his condition is serious and no investigative
action is taken.
Bagumyan's lawyer considers the problem to be systematic, describing
it as a disgrace to Armenian justice, and calls on Minister of Justice
Hrayr Tovmasyan to resign. According to the head of the human rights
organization "Helsinki Association" Mikael Danielian, the state is
guilty of the violation of Bagumyan's right to life being responsible
for the punishment of a person without a verdict and bringing to
death.
George Bagumyan's brother, Serge Bagumyan, who recently arrived from
the United States, described the incident as a homicide, saying that
some people have long offered him and his brother to pay them for
"relieving him of taxes", but the brothers refused. Serge Bagumyan
said that during the investigation, he was demanded a bribe of 10
million drams to free his brother from arrest. Now Bagumyan's family
and lawyer intend to require criminal justice for those responsible
for his unlawful detention and death. According to them, the arrest
and all fabricated case were intended to get the company producing
batteries. Bagumyan's arrest had not a single legal basis and was
carried out as a punishment. "The investigator Edgar Antonian just
said to George," You will be in prison as long as you do not pay all
the taxes. " Although the court was not provided with any evidence of
this "debt", the lawyer said. Given that all other employees of the
company were only witnesses in the case and were not arrested, the
lawyer assessed the case against Bagumyan as targeted and customized.
Anyway, probably once a businessman from the diaspora has become a
victim of irrepressible appetite of the representatives of at least
two branches of the government of Armenia. Bagumyan's case is not
unique, there are many such examples, the only difference is that so
far all these things were not accompanied by the death of Armenians
from the Diaspora. In recent years, the government not only did not
create a favorable atmosphere for investment income to the country,
but also obstructed few entrepreneurs from the diaspora who dared to
take risks and invest in the economic development of their historical
homeland. One of the most striking examples of such a criminal policy
of the Armenian authorities has become the pressing by tax,
administrative, and even law enforcement agencies of Narek
Harutyunyan, philanthropist from the Diaspora, businessman, founder
and leader of the Union of Art "Narekatsi".
It was just one of the manifestations of inadequate fiscal policies of
the authorities in respect of entrepreneurs dared to found a business
in Armenia without sharing with its "rulers". Harutyunyan was was
accused of failing to pay 1.5 million drams, and his business overpaid
to the budget over 20 million drams. And if Harutyunyan "escaped" from
the Armenian Themis by "paying taxes", fines and loss of time and
nerves, Bagumyan had to pay for his intractability with his life.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/society/40194.html
May 13 2013
Death for intractability
13 May 2013 - 1:15pm
Author: David Stepanyan, Yerevan, exclusively to VK
A scandal erupted in the penal and judicial system of Armenia. In the
"Nubarashen" penitentiary institution in the Ararat region
businessman, a U.S. citizen of Armenian origin, George Bagumyan, died
under arrest. The 65-year-old entrepreneur owned a company producing
batteries for the defense industry and the military founded in early
1990 by his father in Armenia.
On October 27, 2012 Bagumyan was charged with tax evasion and illegal
possession of weapons, after which he was arrested. Bagumyan was
accused of failing to pay taxes to the amount of 16 million drams,
which, after various fines, reached 41 million drams. But the charges
did not involve his arrest and detention. According to Bagumyan's
lawyer Mushegh Shushanyan, his client had previously suffered a heart
attack, suffered from hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and in the last
days of his life was on his deathbed. The lawyer thrice petitioned for
bail in the amount of 2,000,000 drams, but to no avail. At the last
meeting on April 22 the judge once again dismissed the defense of
Bagumyan's side in the application for bail. After that, the lawyer
said that if the judge granted the request of the investigator and
extended the term of imprisonment for two months, it would be nothing
more than a death sentence. In his last days the businessman was
detained in the prison infirmary, where he could not get medical care,
as in the penitentiary institution, which contained 1,200 prisoners,
there was only one nurse. In this prison a lot of seriously ill
prisoners are detained, in particular, Boris Petrossian, staying there
from July 2012, although his condition is serious and no investigative
action is taken.
Bagumyan's lawyer considers the problem to be systematic, describing
it as a disgrace to Armenian justice, and calls on Minister of Justice
Hrayr Tovmasyan to resign. According to the head of the human rights
organization "Helsinki Association" Mikael Danielian, the state is
guilty of the violation of Bagumyan's right to life being responsible
for the punishment of a person without a verdict and bringing to
death.
George Bagumyan's brother, Serge Bagumyan, who recently arrived from
the United States, described the incident as a homicide, saying that
some people have long offered him and his brother to pay them for
"relieving him of taxes", but the brothers refused. Serge Bagumyan
said that during the investigation, he was demanded a bribe of 10
million drams to free his brother from arrest. Now Bagumyan's family
and lawyer intend to require criminal justice for those responsible
for his unlawful detention and death. According to them, the arrest
and all fabricated case were intended to get the company producing
batteries. Bagumyan's arrest had not a single legal basis and was
carried out as a punishment. "The investigator Edgar Antonian just
said to George," You will be in prison as long as you do not pay all
the taxes. " Although the court was not provided with any evidence of
this "debt", the lawyer said. Given that all other employees of the
company were only witnesses in the case and were not arrested, the
lawyer assessed the case against Bagumyan as targeted and customized.
Anyway, probably once a businessman from the diaspora has become a
victim of irrepressible appetite of the representatives of at least
two branches of the government of Armenia. Bagumyan's case is not
unique, there are many such examples, the only difference is that so
far all these things were not accompanied by the death of Armenians
from the Diaspora. In recent years, the government not only did not
create a favorable atmosphere for investment income to the country,
but also obstructed few entrepreneurs from the diaspora who dared to
take risks and invest in the economic development of their historical
homeland. One of the most striking examples of such a criminal policy
of the Armenian authorities has become the pressing by tax,
administrative, and even law enforcement agencies of Narek
Harutyunyan, philanthropist from the Diaspora, businessman, founder
and leader of the Union of Art "Narekatsi".
It was just one of the manifestations of inadequate fiscal policies of
the authorities in respect of entrepreneurs dared to found a business
in Armenia without sharing with its "rulers". Harutyunyan was was
accused of failing to pay 1.5 million drams, and his business overpaid
to the budget over 20 million drams. And if Harutyunyan "escaped" from
the Armenian Themis by "paying taxes", fines and loss of time and
nerves, Bagumyan had to pay for his intractability with his life.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/society/40194.html