CNN
June 9 2006
Kenya calls high rollers mercenaries, arrests them
10 luxury cars, jewelry, guns, machetes found at Armenians’ home
Friday, June 9, 2006 Posted: 1554 GMT (2354 HKT)
NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) — Kenyan police on Friday arrested two
Armenian brothers whose swaggering lifestyle turned them into
celebrities after they were accused of being mercenaries involved in
a controversial police raid on media offices.
There have been repeated allegations that the wealthy Armenians,
known for their fleet of luxury cars and flashy jewelry, were
protected by powerful political allies in Kenya.
Police seized a Mercedes car with government plates during a raid on
the heavily guarded home of Artur Margariyan and Arthur Sargsian in a
ritzy Nairobi suburb early on Friday. A lesser known brother, Arman,
was also arrested.
Police sources said they made the arrests after the brothers roughed
up customs officials at Nairobi airport. They have not made public
any exact charges.
“They were supposed to pay for some items they were carrying, and
they got into a scuffle before leaving. They were followed home,”
said a police official speaking on condition of anonymity.
The sources said later the brothers were at the airport on Friday
awaiting deportation.
Accused of tie to media raid
The private Citizen television station showed police seizing a dozen
car license plates, including some supposed to be issued only to
diplomats, during the raid. Among more than 10 luxury cars at their
home, a Lexus truck could also be seen with red and blue police
lights in the grille.
The police official said guns, machetes and bulletproof vests were
recovered.
The brothers burst onto Kenyan front pages in March after opposition
politician Raila Odinga accused them of being mercenaries behind a
raid on a major Kenyan media house that drew a storm of domestic and
international criticism.
The brothers denied Odinga’s charges.
The raid by police commandos on KTN television and its sister
newspaper the Standard was seen as a low point in the three-year rule
of President Mwai Kibaki, already suffering from a sharp fall in
popularity and major corruption scandals.
The Kenyan government justified the raid by saying journalists had
been bribed to plant stories that threatened national security, but
never clarified what the stories were.
The government promised an investigation into the Armenians, but has
never made results public.
Lawyers for the men could not immediately be reached for comment on
Friday.
The brothers have told Reuters they are businessmen based in Dubai
with interests in import-export, property development, a nightclub
and gold and diamond trading.
They have become fixtures in cartoons and gossip columns despite
their repeated assertions that they are respectable businessmen
prepared to invest large sums in Kenya.