Epress.am News from Armenia
Heritage Party board member, Araratnews.am journalist Hrayr Manukyan explained on his personal Facebook page why he published the audio recording of his conversation with an employee of Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) who tried to recruit him then issued threats against him.
"Why did I publish the recording?
"1. For my security. There was no guarantee that the threats issued were completely empty. There was [the threat of] subsequently passing me off at the very least as a KGB agent (at the end he said that people won’t know what decision I actually made, what conversation took place). After publishing [the recording], they can neither call me a ‘KGB agent’ nor harm those close to me; on the contrary, they will protect [us], so that no one suddenly harms [us], to put the blame on them.
"2. The NSS has no right to have an informer in the supreme leadership of a parliamentary party, and our country's NSS no less, which definitely conveys this information to the ruling administration. This violates one of the extremely important principles of democracy: equal political competition, thus becoming an anti-state activity. The NSS should engage in reconnaissance (in other countries) and counterintelligence (against foreign agents in Armenia).
"They don't understand this simple thing, those who remain communist in their hearts, who say that I shouldn't have discredited an important structure such as the NSS in the eyes of the public. But I was obliged to publish [the recording] (even without the need for personal protection), as a journalist, as a board member, and even just as a citizen, for the reason that to show the public with proof the NSS’s anti-state activities and for it finally to be recorded that the NSS shouldn’t stick its nose in the leadership of [political] parties.
"3. For those who have yet to receive an offer. My example shows that saying 'no' to the NSS, especially when we're not dealing with reconnaissance and counterintelligence, is not only possible, but also necessary, no matter how threatening they are or what compromise they offer. Remember: there is nothing more compromising or humiliating in our country than being a 'KGB informer'.
"4. For the very same NSS. Due to the published recording, they will be forced to slightly revise their criminal methods (recruiting people through threats and intimidation), having a complete picture of people's psychological and intellectual characteristics prior to approaching them. A well-known KGB agent wrote that if the recruiter had done his homework well and the compromise was collected in advance, there wouldn't be a result like this. Another famous KGB agent also spoke about some compromises, the revelation of which, supposedly, frighten me so much that I wouldn't want my parents to know.
"This shows that these people, after all this, continue to remain neanderthals: they think they can have such a compromise with which they can force me to do something. After following [me], reading all [my] statuses [on Facebook], was it so difficult to understand that you can't get me to compromise, or that for me there is nothing more heinous than being a snitch for the KGB that actually serves Russia?
"[…] Do you think that since you turned 100 people before me into informers with similar methods that you’ll turn everyone [into informers] so easily? Or do you think that all the young people of this country are empty, self-seeking, and cowardly like you? Was it so hard to see that the convictions and outlook of a 27-year-old 10–15 years ago are very different than the outlook of a 27-year-old today?
"In any case, I hope that the NSS will gradually understand these simple things and will change a little."
Photo credit: Hrayr Manukyan's personal Facebook page