Sunday, 

Over 100 Tsarukian Backers Detained

        • Artak Khulian

Armenia -- Police detain supporters of Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik 
Tsarukian, Yerevan, .

The Armenian police said on Sunday that more than 100 supporters of Gagik 
Tsarukian were detained while protesting against apparent criminal proceedings 
launched against the leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK).

The police spokesman, Ashot Aharonian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that they 
were taken into custody because of defying police orders outside the National 
Security Service (NSS) headquarters in Yerevan.

Hundreds of angry Tsarukian supporters rallied there as NSS officers began 
interrogating the BHK leader hours after searching his house. Riot police pushed 
the crowd away from the building. They said that the demonstration is illegal, 
citing a coronavirus-related state of emergency in Armenia.

Following the search, the NSS issued a statement alleging that BHK activists 
handed out vote bribes in the run-up to 2017 parliamentary elections at the 
behest of the party’s “leading members.” Another NSS statement accused two 
gambling firms controlled by Tsarukian of large-scale fraud.

Tsarukian accused the authorities of political persecution when he addressed the 
press before heading to the NSS building.

The BHK’s governing board issued a statement later in the day linking the 
crackdown to Tsarukian’s recent demands for the resignation of Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian and his government. It said that the party, which holds the 
second largest of seats in the Armenian parliament, will not bow to the “illegal 
pressure.”

A smaller number of protesters, among them senior BHK parliamentarians, remained 
gathered near the NSS headquarters even after the mass detentions.

One of the lawmakers, Naira Zohrabian, said the authorities may now ask the 
National Assembly to lift Tsarukian’s immunity from prosecution and arrest him. 
“We are ready for all scenarios,” she told reporters.

Meanwhile, Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, said that he has 
dispatched “rapid-reaction teams” to police stations where the BHK backers were 
held. He said they will talk to the detainees to and look into the legality of 
their arrest.




Armenian Opposition Leader’s Home Searched


Armenia -- Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian (C) emerges from his 
villa in Arinj after it was raided by security forces, Jne 14, 2020.

Gagik Tsarukian, the leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), 
accused the Armenian government of persecuting him for political reasons after 
security forces raided and searched his home early on Sunday.

Tsarukian was summoned to the National Security Service (NSS) and questioned 
there later in the day.

Senior BHK representatives claimed that scores party activists in the country’s 
eastern Gegharkunik province were rounded up early in the morning. They said the 
authorities linked the security sweep to financial activities of a former BHK 
candidate who ran for the Armenian parliament in 2017.

In a statement issued shortly afterwards, the NSS said that “a group of BHK 
members” handed out vote bribes during the 2017 parliamentary election campaign. 
It said it has conducted “about four dozen searches” as part of the 
investigation into the alleged vote buying which it said had been organized by 
the party’s “leading members.” The security service did not mention Tsarukian by 
name.

In another statement, the NSS accused two gambling firms controlled by Tsarukian 
of serious financial irregularities that cost the state more than 29 billion 
drams ($60 million) in damage.


Armenai -- Special police forces guard the entrance to Gagik Tsarukian's villa 
in Arinj searched by law-enforcement officers, .

Tsarukian, who is one of Armenia’s richest men and leads the country’s largest 
parliamentary opposition force, struck a defiant note as he spoke to reporters 
at the entrance to his vast villa in Arinj, a village just north of Yerevan.

He vowed to continue to fight for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian and his entire cabinet, again accusing them of mishandling the 
coronavirus crisis and mismanaging the economy.

“This is fabricated and political,” said Tsarukian. “They want put pressure on 
me, blackmail me.”

The BHK leader arrived at the NSS headquarters in Yerevan early in the 
afternoon. More than a hundred of his supporters rallied nearby, chanting 
“Tsarukian!” and “Nikol resign!”

Riot police pushed the small crowd away from the NSS building, detaining several 
protesters in the process. Senior police officers at the scene said the 
gathering is illegal because of the coronavirus-related state of emergency in 
Armenia.

The crackdown came more than a week after Tsarukian criticized the Armenian 
government in unusually strong terms. The tycoon said Pashinian and his cabinet 
must step down because they have failed to contain the coronavirus epidemic and 
mitigate its socioeconomic consequences. He also announced that he will try to 
rally “healthy” political groups and individuals “concerned about country’s 
future.”

Pashinian and his political allies reacted furiously to the unusually harsh 
criticism. The prime minister’s spokeswoman, Mane Gevorgian, claimed that 
Tsarukian attacked the government because he fears being prosecuted on 
corruption, tax evasion and other grave charges. She said the BHK leader should 
also be worried about the recent entry into force of a law allowing authorities 
to confiscate private assets deemed to have been acquired illegally.

The BHK, which has the second largest group in the Armenian parliament, rejected 
the “political blackmail.”


Armenia - Businessman Gagik Tsarukian (L) and protest leader Nikol Pashinian 
speak to reporters in Yerevan, 2 May 2018.

In the 2017 parliamentary race Tsarukian’s party was officially in opposition to 
then President Serzh Sarkisian. The latter was toppled in the Pashinian-led 
“Velvet Revolution” a year later. The BHK voiced support for the revolution 
during its final stage, helped Pashinian become prime minister and joined his 
first cabinet formed in May 2018.

Pashinian fired his ministers affiliated with BHK in October 2018, accusing 
Tsarukian of secretly collaborating with the former regime.

The BHK came in a distant second in the December 2018 parliamentary elections 
and won 26 seats in Armenia’s 132-member parliament. Pashinian’s My Step bloc 
controls 88 parliament seats.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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