Syunik Marzpet Attacked Me, Says Entrepreneur Who Accused Him of Stealing

Entrepreneur Silva Hambardzumyan said she was attacked by Syunik marzpet (regional governor) Suren Khachatryan outside the Armenia Marriott Hotel at around 6 pm on Monday.

“I had a meeting at Marriott Hotel. After it ended, I was preparing to go broadcast live at Yerkir Media, when Syunik’s marzpet approached me and attacked me like a hooligan. He was trying to kick me, then hit me with his hands,” Hambardzumyan said with tears in her eyes at a press conference following the incident.

Recall, the entrepreneur had declared last week that Khachatryan stole 102 million drams’ worth of equipment from the Litchqvaz-Tey mine, which belonged to Hambardzumyan before the license for her Sipan 1 gold mining company was revoked by authorities. Following the accusations, Khachatryan publicly threatened to take Hambarzumyan to court, saying that he purchased the equipment. This was followed by Hambardzumyan declaring that the marzpet and his son were drug addicts and she is prepared to shame the marzpet in court.

On Monday, Hambardzumyan stated that Khachatryan can’t sue her since the facts are on her side and the marzpet’s only course of action is to cause fear and be a hooligan.

The entrepreneur mentioned that witnessing the attack were MPs Khachik Manukyan and Samvel Sargsyan, who grabbed Khachatryan and said, “You’re not a hooligan, are you?”

“We’ve gone to the police; [now] I have to go give a testimony. He is a marzpet in the country, can you imagine, he’s a hooligan. Well now imagine what Syunik marz has to deal with. I won’t be silent; I stand by what I said; let him return the money, publicly apologize for his dirty words,” said Hambardzumyan, referring to the price of the equipment.

Photo: Hetq Online

Updated 12:02 pm on Nov. 16: “councillor” changed to “governor” to better reflect position and contribute to a better translation of the Armenian “marzpet”.