NEW SUSPECT HELD IN YEREVAN CAR BOMBING PROBE
By Karine Kalantarian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
March 12 2007
Armenian law-enforcement authorities have arrested a man who they
believe carried out the assassination of a high-ranking tax official
in a car blast last September, it emerged on Monday.
The Office of the Prosecutor-General told RFE/RL that the 32-year-old
man, identified as Hayk Israelian, was arrested last Wednesday and
charged with planting and setting off an explosive device that killed
Shahen Hovasapian, head of a State Tax Service division tasked with
detecting and punishing tax evasion.
The daylight blast rocked Hovasapian’s car moments after he got into
it outside his expensive apartment in downtown Yerevan.
One of the official’s top subordinates, Armen Virabian, and his brother
Gurgen were arrested shortly afterwards on charges of engineering the
apparent contract killing. Both men strongly denied the accusations
and were eventually released from custody pending trial.
A spokeswoman for the Office of the Prosecutor-General, Sona Truzian,
said that the detained suspect is unemployed and has a criminal
record. Truzian would not say if he has confessed to the charges or
whether the prosecutors have also identified the mastermind of the
high-profile crime.
According to an unconfirmed report by Yerkir-Media television,
Israelian has close ties with an influential member of Armenia’s
parliament. The TV channel did not give the lawmaker’s name.
It is thus not yet clear if the investigators see any connection
between and Israelian and the Virabians, who own a furniture and
construction materials company. The brothers’ lawyer, Hovik Arsenian,
told RFE/RL that the accusations leveled against his clients have
not been dropped.
The accusations are reportedly based on testimony given by the slain
official’s driver. The latter told the investigators that two days
before the blast the Virabians lured him to an expensive Yerevan
restaurant for a dinner that lasted for two hours and apparently had
an explosive device planted under Hovasapian’s unattended government
car in the process.
President Robert Kocharian personally condemned Hovasapian’s murder,
linking it to tax authorities’ efforts "efforts to tighten tax
administration and create equal taxation conditions for everyone."