Armenia extradites US citizen of Armenian descent on US warrant
By Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
April 19, 2005 Tuesday
YEREVAN, April 19 — Armenia has extradited a US citizen of Armenian
descent to the United States.
Armen Barsegyan, former Soviet citizen, is a suspect on charges
of weapons smuggling from Armenia to the United States, the press
service of the US embassy in Yerevan said on Monday. Bersegyan will
be put on trial in the United States this week.
The US side claims that a group of criminals, including Barsegyan,
smuggled small arms and mobile air defence systems to the United
States. David Kelly, US federal prosecutor based in New York, said
that the dealers had acquired the weapons on the territory of Georgia,
Armenia and some other countries of Eastern Europe.
Criminal charges for illegal weapons deals have been brought against
eighteen suspects, including seventeen citizens from different
countries, who have been placed under arrest.
General Grachia Arutyunyan, First Deputy Director of the Armenia
National Security Service under the Armenian government, earlier
declared that the Armenian secret services had no evidence to prove
that the weapons under investigation were first either bought or
stolen in Armenia and then smuggled to the United States.