Epress.am News from Armenia
Derenik Hakobyan, the son of Syunik governor Surik Khachatryan's driver and close associate Aragats Ghevondyan, is under investigation once again for allegedly assaulting two people in Goris, a town in the southern province, Zhoghovurd newspaper reports.
According to the daily, Hakobyan is accused of brutally beating Vache Harutyunyan, an employee of a local construction material store, and Harutyunyan's cousin Alik. A spokesperson for the Armenian police has told the paper that the incident took place on August 29 and forensic medical experts are currently working to determine the extent of the victims' injuries.
Note, the Syunik governor's family and intimate associates have been repeatedly linked to violence in the southeastern town of Goris; in May 2015, Derenik Hakobyan, along with Surik Khachatryan's son Tigran and several dozen other men, was arrested after beating up and severely injuring brothers Harutyun and Mushegh Zakaryan. Hakobyan and Khachatryan were subsequently set free on bail while awaiting trial.
In June 2013, former mayoral candidate and local businessman Avetik Budaghyan was shot dead and his brother Artak, an Armenian army colonel, was seriously wounded near Surik Khachatryan's Goris house. The governor's son, Tigran Khachatryan, and his security guard, Zarzand Nikoghosyan, were arrested on murder charges only to be released a couple of months later: the two, law enforcement authorities said, had fired the fatal gunshots in self-defense.