ANOTHER MAN HELD IN ARMENIAN ‘COUP’ PROBE
By Astghik Bedevian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 29 2006

Armenian law-enforcement authorities said on Friday that they have
uncovered a massive cache of weapons and ammunition in their ongoing
investigation into a coup plot allegedly hatched by two hard-line
nationalists hostile to the government.

The National Security Service (NSS) said its officers found on Thursday
"unprecedented quantities" of assault rifles, machine guns, grenade
launchers and even surface-to-air missiles in the village house of
a man close to the arrested leaders of a group opposing concessions
to Azerbaijan. It claimed that the resident of the southern Armenian
village of Lusarat, identified as Vahan Aroyan, also illegally kept
hand grenades, landmines, "tens of thousands" of bullets and radios.

"Vahan Aroyan is under arrest, and the investigation into the criminal
case is continuing," the NSS said in a statement. It gave no further
details, saying only that the arrest was made "within the framework"
of the coup charges leveled against Zhirayr Sefilian and Vartan
Malkhasian.

The two men are well-known veterans of the 1991-1994 war in
Nagorno-Karabakh who are highly critical of Armenia’s current
leadership. They were arrested and charged with calling for a "violent
overthrow" of the government following a December 2 meeting of their
new organization, the Alliance of Armenian Volunteers (HKH).

The NSS alleges that the HKH was set up to mount an armed uprising
against the government during parliamentary elections expected next
spring, a charge denied by Sefilian, Malkhasian and their supporters.

Armen Yeghian, another senior member of the HKH, said the arrested
man, whom he identified as Vahan Arotian, is a former comrade-in-arms
of Sefilian. But he insisted that Arotian "has had no practical
involvement in the activities of our structure." "He could not have
participated in the [December 2] gathering because he had nothing to
do with our structure," Yeghian told RFE/RL.

Acting on an appeal lodged by Sefilian’s and Malkhasian’s lawyers,
Armenia’s Court of Appeals on Wednesday refused to order the suspects’
release pending investigation.