Monday,Ex-General Arrested Amid Unrest In Armenian Town
June 16, 2018
• Emil Danielyan
• Ruzanna GishianArmenia - Retired General Manvel Grigorian speaks at a congress of the
Yerkrapah Union in Yerevan, 18 February 2017.Manvel Grigorian, a retired but still influential army general, and a reputed
crime figure challenging him were arrested on Saturday amid rival
demonstrations held by their supporters in the Armenian town of Echmiadzin.The town, which is home to the Mother See of Armenian Apostolic Church, has
been governed by Grigorian’s son Karen for almost a decade. Hundreds of local
residents protested against the mayor in recent days, accusing him of
corruption and mismanagement and demanding his resignation.Speakers at the rallies there also called for an end to what they say an
atmosphere of fear created by Manvel Grigorian, who has long held sway in
Echmiadzin and nearby villages. They used the slogans and tactics of a recent
nationwide protest movement that toppled Armenia’s previous government.Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, who swept to power as a result of that
movement, denounced this fact on Friday. “It’s unacceptable that criminal
elements are desecrating symbols of our revolution of love and solidarity and
exploiting the revolution in mafia wars,” he wrote on Facebook. “We will not
allow that.”Pashinian clearly alluded to reports that the man behind the protests against
the Grigorians is Artur Asatrian, an Echmiadzin native who has long been
branded a crime figure by Armenian media.Armenia - People rally in Echmiadzin to demand the resignation of its Mayor
Karen Grigorian, 16 June 2018.On Saturday, officers of the National Security Service (NSS) raided Asatrian’s
Echmiadzin compound and other properties owned by the man better known as “Don
Pipo.” Asatrian and four other men, all of them Russian citizens, were arrested
as a result.In a written statement, the NSS said that Asatrian is suspected of illegally
possessing weapons and kidnapping three individuals who had allegedly plotted
to assassinate him a few years ago.In an apparently related development, security officers also searched the
Echmiadzin villa of Manvel Grigorian. They found and confiscated large
quantities of “illegally acquired” weapons and ammunition before detaining the
once powerful general, according to the NSS statement.The security service added that it immediately notified the speaker of
Armenia’s parliament, of which Grigorian is a member, about the arrest. It did
not specify whether it will press criminal charges against the ex-general
affiliated with former President Serzh Sarkisian’ Republican Party (HHK).Under Armenian law, he cannot be formally charged and kept in custody for more
than three days without the parliament’s consent.Grigorian, 61, is a prominent veteran of the 1991-1994 of the war in
Nagorno-Karabakh who served as Armenia’s deputy defense minister from
2000-2008. He is also the chairman of the Yerkrapah Union of Karabakh war
veterans, an organization which was particularly influential in the 1990s and
the early 2000s.Armenia - Mayor Karen Grigorian (second from left) joins his supporters
rallying in Echmiadzin, 16 June 2018.The HHK’s parliamentary faction, the largest in the National Assembly,
expressed serious concern at Grigorian’s arrest, saying that it violated a
constitutional provision regulating detentions of lawmakers. It suggested that
“mainly political motives” are behind the high-profile criminal case.A statement by the faction also called on Armenian prosecutors to ensure the
“legality of the investigation” and Grigorian’s immediate release from custody.Footage aired by the Armenia TV channel showed the HHK faction leader, Vahram
Baghdasarian, leaving the Yerkrapah office in Echmiadzin shortly before the
official announcement of the arrests.The NSS raids and arrests came as Karen Grigorian’s opponents stepped up the
pressure on the Echmiadzin mayor, blocking the town’s main streets in the
morning. The embattled mayor organized a counterdemonstration in the town’s
central square later in the day. Riot police were deployed there to prevent
possible clashes between the rival groups of protesters.Karen Grigorian rejected the demands for his resignation and defended his track
record when he spoke to reporters. He also offered to embark on a dialogue with
his detractors.Armenian Mayor Resigns After Corruption Claims Against Ex-General
Հունիս 18, 2018
• Arman Hovhannisyan
• Ruzanna Stepanian
• Marine KhachatrianArmenia - A screenshot of official video of security officers finding large
stockpiles of food in a villa belonging to retired General Manvel Grigorian, 17
June 2018.
Կիսվել
• 49
Կարդալ մեկնաբանությունները
Տպել
The embattled mayor of the Armenian town of Echmiadzin resigned late on Sunday
after law-enforcement authorities made new and far more embarrassing
accusations against his father, retired General Manvel Grigorian, arrested by
them.The National Security Service (NSS) claimed to have found in Grigorian’s
mansions not only large quantities of illegal acquired weapons but also large
stockpiles of food and other supplies meant for Armenian army soldiers. The NSS
accused him of misappropriating those items.The allegations, backed up by an official video of searches conducted by
security officers, caused widespread shock and outrage in Armenia. They led the
former ruling Republican Party (HHK), to which Grigorian has long been allied,
to stop describing the criminal case against him as politically motivated.The once powerful general, who served as deputy defense minister from
2000-2008, was taken into custody on Saturday on the third day of street
protests against his son Karen, who has been Echmiadzin’s mayor for almost a
decade. The protests were reportedly organized by Artur Asatrian, an Echmiadzin
native whom Armenian media outlets have long described as a crime figure.Asatrian, who is better known to the public with his “Don Pippo” nickname, and
his four bodyguards were also arrested on Saturday. The NSS accused them of
illegal arms possession and kidnappings.Mayor Grigorian staged a counterdemonstration of his supporters and rejected
calls for his resignation as the security service raided his father’s two
opulent villas located in Echmiadzin and a nearby village. The NSS initially
claimed to have found and confiscated only “illegally acquired” weapons and
ammunition stashed there.Armenia - Echmiadzin Mayor Karen Grigorian holds a news conference in Yerevan,
16 Jun 2018.The HHK, which is headed by former President Serzh Sarkisian, was quick to
condemn Manvel Grigorian’s arrest and demand his release. Also, more than a
hundred people protested against his detention outside the NSS headquarters in
Yerevan on Saturday night. The protesters were mostly members of the Yerkrapah
Union of Nagorno-Karabakh war veterans. Grigorian, who was a prominent field
commander during the war, has led the union for nearly two decades.Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian defended the arrest in a video address to the
nation aired through Facebook on Sunday afternoon. He was the first to announce
that Grigorian is also suspected of large-scale embezzlement.“There are strong suspicions that he misappropriated aid sent to the people of
Karabakh and the army and these suspicions are substantiated by the results of
searches conducted at his properties,” said Pashinian.“Nobody denies that Manvel Grigorian is a hero of Artsakh (Karabakh),”
Pashinian went on. “But even the heroes have no right to steal aid sent by
schoolchildren in Gyumri, Echmiadzin and Yerevan to soldiers fighting on the
frontlines and to feed his wild animals with it.”Armenia - Canned food found in a villa belonging to retired General Manvel
Grigorian, .The NSS released the video later in the day. It showed NSS officers discovering
large amounts of underwear, medication and field rations for soldiers provided
by the Armenian Defense Ministry as well as other food donated by ordinary
Armenians at a sprawling compound in Grigorian’s native village, Arshaluys.The donations were made by local communities, public schools and other civilian
institutions during the April 2016 war in Karabakh. Some of the food parcels
purportedly found in Grigorian’s villa contained letters of support written by
schoolchildren to Armenian frontline troops.“It emerged that Manvel Grigorian has used the food meant for soldiers
participating in the four-day April [2016] war for feeding animals of his
private zoo,” the NSS charged in a statement. It said Grigorian also
misappropriated several vehicles that were donated to the military two years
ago.The video also featured many weapons, including rocket-propelled grenade
launchers, as well as several dozen expensive and retro cars parked in the
Arshaluys compound. It was swiftly aired by Armenia’s main TV channels and
widely shared on social media.“I, Karen Grigorian, am resigning by my will,” the Echmiadzin mayor said in a
late-night Facebook post. He did not elaborate.The HHK reacted to the embarrassing video on Monday with a statement which
called the ex-general’s alleged corruption “unacceptable and outrageous.” “We
are shocked and outraged that such things could have possibly been done by
anyone, especially a general who had actively participated in the Artsakh war,”
read an HHK statement.“While respecting the presumption of innocence, we are declaring tha