Epress.am News from Armenia
It’s already the second time in three days that staff of the Tez Tour Armenian office have been detained by Yerevan police without explanation, said the Russian company’s vice-president, Igor Andreev, reports RIA Novosti. According to Andreev, all 10 employees and their lawyer were arrested.
The first arrest occurred on Saturday morning, Dec. 11. Tez Tour Armenian office staff were kept at the police station till late in the evening. Asked by Tez Tour Development Director Vadim Vardazaryan the reason for their arrest, police said one of the staff was suspected of running over a pedestrian.
At around 6 pm on Monday, Dec. 13, again police arrived to the tour agency’s office, after which the office was closed and all the staff again found themselves at the same 6th police division.
The Tez Tour operators believe their arrests were organized by leaders of a local travel agency that offers Tez Tour sale vouchers. The conflict between the two agencies began in the summer, when, according to the Tez Tour vice-president, their colleagues refused to pay the more than $400,000 debt owed to them, while continuing to sell the vouchers. Negotiations were unsuccessful and Tez Tour warned the agency that their working relationship might be suspended.
Andreev said that in over 16 years since the founding of the company, he has not experienced such tyranny, and the company intends to assert its rights under the law.
The Tez Tour Armenian office itself doesn’t conduct commercial activities, but represents the Russian operating company of the international tour operator in Yerevan.
The Yerevan Police Department information department could not be reached for comments, notes RIA Novosti.