Epress.am News from Armenia
The problem with the Armenia’s Armed Forces is that officials who are involved in criminal cases are not only not held liable but also continue to hold their positions, said Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor office director, human rights defender Artur Sakunts during a Media Center discussion today.
He reminded an incident related to illegal sales of arms, where only one person, Vanik Manukyan, was found guilty. In addition, the trial was closed and the procedure accelerated.
Sakunts stated that officials were not investigated in the case, moreover they continue to hold their positions. The human rights defender listed the names of individuals related to the case; former Military Police commander, Deputy Police Chief Garegin Gabrielyan, Deputy Police Chief Hovhannes Hunanyan, Deputy Minister of Defense, Department of Logistics Head Alik Mirzabekyan, the same Department’s Technical Safety Division Head Serob Abrahamyan, etc.
“Do you know what arms we’re talking about here? They sold them in Georgia and had a large financial profit from the sales. Was one person able to get that many arms out of Armenia’s border?” Sakunts raised the question.
He considered it notable that, for example, the Deputy Minister of Defense Alik Mirzabekyan involved in the case was not only not held liable in but was given a new position as the Deputy Chief of Staff.
“Who is appointing and removing people from positions? Armenian Commander in Chief Serzh Sargsyan,” said Sakunts.
He stated that the situation would not change as long as there are corrupted individuals holding such positions. “This is the reason behind violations of statutory relations. The Godfather of orruption, the Commander sponsors these people. And they call us national traitors. Now who is the traitor? The people selling arms to our neighboring countries. Who knows where those armaments go to from Georgia; Azerbaijan or Turkey?” said Sakunts.