Azad Hye Online, United Arab Emirates
Jan 25 2005

Armenia-UAE: Deputy Hakob Hakobian could face trial in UAE

AZAD-HYE (25 January 2005): Armenian Deputy Hakob Hakobian and his
son, who were detained by Dubai Police Directorate since 16th January
2005, were set free yesterday on the condition that they both should
surrender their passports and remain in the UAE until the completion
of the preliminary investigations, following charges of stealing two
pieces of expensive garments (worth 8 thousand dollars) from a known
boutique in “Wafi Mall” in Dubai. They were arrested in the hotel
where they were staying, only hours after their shopping excursion to
the said Mall. The Management of the Mall insists that they paid only
16 thousand dollars for a merchandize worth 24 thousand. It should be
mentioned that most products in the “Wafi Mall” are not equipped with
alarm tags, instead surveillance is carried out with fixing cameras.

A third individual called Hrand Davdian, who was arrested for the
same reasons and who was shopping with them, is still under the
Police custody. Up to this moment, the Egyptian lawyer who is
handling the case could not manage to ensure his release on bail. All
three are expecting the decision of the Public Prosecutor, who could
press charges against them based on the outcome of the preliminary
investigations. If the file goes to the Court, Deputy Hakobian, his
son and their friend may be obliged to follow the hearings for a
period of 3-5 months, at the end of which, if the incident of the
theft is confirmed, they could face imprisonment verdicts for 3-5
years. Since Deputy Hakobian was on personal visit to the UAE, he
does not enjoy any parliamentarian immunity and his trial will take
the normal course.

His wife, who was accompanying him in this shopping trip was allowed
to leave the UAE just one day after the episode. She returned back to
Yerevan and informed the Press that the whole story about here
husband is a misunderstanding and that Dubai Police actually were
looking for another Hakobian, who was enlisted on the list of the
wanted people by “Interpol”. She also mentioned that the confusion
about the credit card payment has occurred with their friend Hrand
Davdian and not her husband.

After his conditional release yesterday Deputy Hakobian assured by
telephone to “Aravot” daily in Yerevan that he is a victim of
misunderstanding and that he will explain everything to the public
once he is back to Armenia.

During the past few days his colleagues in the Parliament did not
comment on the news about his arrest. Some of them underlined the
fact that the available news are not from reliable sources. No
official statement came out from the President of the National
Assembly Arthur Baghdassarian. On the other side, the Spokesman of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hamlet Gasparyan assured that the
Ministry is in constant contact with the Ambassador of Armenia in Abu
Dhabi Arshak Poladian and Consul Nana Ghazarian. Both officials who
reside in Abu Dhabi have visited Deputy Hakobian at the Police
Headquarters on Thursday 20th January 2005 and inquired from the
Public Persecutor about the judicial procedures related to his case.
In a telephone conversation with “Azg” daily on 24th January 2005,
Ambassador Poladian referred that at last the misunderstanding about
Deputy Hakobyan being on the list of Interpol has been resolved but
the accusation for stealing are still standing and might lead to a
lengthy judicial process.

“Azg” comments on 25th January 2005: “Nevertheless, the details of
this incident, which have been circulated in the Press are causing
embarrassment to the Government. Despite that an individual should be
considered innocent until he/she is proved guilty, it is still
humiliating what occurred to Deputy Hakobian”.

Deputy Hakobian is a known businessman in Armenia and has started
some business activities in the UAE, which now could be jeopardized
by the outcome of his eventual trial. In Armenia he is mostly known
by his street-nickname “Choit”. He is born in 1963, member of the
National Assembly (Parliament), representing the city of Etchmiadzin
since 1999 (reelected 2003), member of the Committee on State and
Legal Affairs in the Parliament. During the last Presidential
elections of February 2003 he and his supporters were accused by
opposition leaders in creating artificial confusions in different
electoral districts of Echmiadzin and dropping mass ballot papers
into the voting boxes.