ARSHAK BANUCHYAN HAS BEEN OUSTED

hak-banuchyan
03:17 pm | September 02, 2009

Politics

Arshak Banuchyan, assistant director of the Matenadaran Institute of
Ancient Armenian Manuscripts, has been ousted from office because of
staff reduction.

Matenadaran’s Director Hrachya Tamrazyan says no one has been fired,
Arshak Banuchyan has been placed to another position according to
his decision.

Arshak Banuchyan says after he was made redundant he was offered a job
in another department and he accepted it. "The new post is connected
with my profession," said Banuchyan.

In reply to A1+ whether the reduction is politically motivated,
Mr. Banuchyan said: "As I take all my decisions and am responsible for
my steps let me refrain from comments. Surely, if someone is engaged
in politics everything connected with him is politicized, even the
legal proceedings. But I iterate that I don’t want to interpret the
reduction or its motives."

Remind that Arshak Banuchyan is charged under Article 205 of the
Armenian Criminal Code (money squandering) and Article 179 (evasion
of taxes).

Banuchyan has allegedly transferred money to publish a journal
dedicated to a sitting of the Institute’s Board of Trustees. The
journal didn’t come out as the President of the Board, Catholicos of
All Armenians announced the sitting cancelled.

During the Presidential election of 2009 Arshak Banuchyan was
presidential contender Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s representative in
Vayots Dzor.