FREED BUSINESSMEN AGAIN ON TRIAL
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Aug 20 2007
An Armenian appeals court began hearings Monday on a high-profile
case involving two businessmen who were sensationally cleared last
month of controversial criminal charges after spending nearly two
years in prison.
Gagik Hakobian, a leading shareholder in the coffee processing
and packaging company Royal Armenia, and its deputy director Aram
Ghazarian had been arrested in October 2005 after publicly accusing
the Armenian customs of corruption. They went on trial late last year
on charges of smuggling and tax fraud.
The State Customs Committee and the National Security Service (NSS)
claim that Royal Armenia illegally avoided paying more than 1 billion
drams ($3 million) worth of taxes and import duties. Prosecutors
representing them in the court have demanded that Hakobian and
Ghazarian be sentenced to 12 and 11 years in prison respectively.
The defendants and their lawyers have dismissed the accusations,
however. They say the case was brought in retaliation for Royal
Armenia’s refusal to engage in a fraud scam with senior customs
officials and decision to publicly expose widespread corruption within
the SCC.
In what may have been a precedent-setting ruling, a Yerevan court of
first instance fully acquitted the two men on July 16. The unexpected
development was followed by a meeting between President Robert
Kocharian and Armenia’s leading judges.
Newspaper reports have said Kocharian expressed his displeasure with
the acquittal and warned the judges, all of them appointed by him,
against defying law-enforcement authorities. But according to a
statement released by the presidential press service, the Royal
Armenia case was not on the meeting’s agenda.
The prosecutors, meanwhile, stand by their accusations, having taken
the case to the Court of Appeals. The first hearing there adjourned
shortly after its start due to the absence of Hakobian and his defense
counsel. According to Gevorg Minasian, the chief Royal Armenia
lawyer, the businessman has developed "serious cardiac problems"
and is currently undergoing treatment in Spain.
"As a result of spending one year and nine months in jail, his health
condition has substantially deteriorated," Minasian told RFE/RL.
"Doctors say his condition is such that he could die at any moment,"
he claimed.
The SCC is reputed to be one of the most corrupt government agencies
in Armenia, with local businessmen routinely complaining about its
allegedly arbitrary practices. However, most of them avoid going
public with their grievances for fear of government retribution.
Royal Armenia is the only private firm which is known to have publicly
clashed with the customs.