Alexander Arzumanyan: International community recognized me a political
prisoner
2008-02-01 18:57:00
ArmInfo. Alexander Arzumanyan, the former foreign minister of Armenia
and currently the head of Armenian ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s
campaign headquarters, rejected pointblank the supposition about " the
authorities’ good will in the matter of his quick release". To recall,
the matter concerns Arzumanyan’s arrest on the suspicion of involvement
in money laundering.
Stressing that 4 months in prison are not a small term, Arzumanyan said
that he was released not thanks to the Armenian authorities’ good will,
but because the international community recognized him a political
prisoner. At the same time, Arzumanyan stated that his criminal case is
not stopped, and he himself is released on his own recognizance.
However, Arzumanyan thinks that "the case fabricated against him
failed".
As it was stated earlier, according to the investigation data,
ex-foreign minister of Armenia Alexander Arzumanyan and ex-deputy
defense minister Vahan Shirkhanyan, according to a preliminary
agreement with businessman Levon Markos received $178 200 in April 2007
in the names of 9 different people. Levon Markos was searched at that
time. The money transfer was made with the support of Converse Bank and
the Russian Bank for trade financing. Moreover, the money transfer
process was accompanied by serious violations.