On June 22, son of former head of the Malatia-Sebastia community Sedrak Zatikyan was killed after an armed beating near the intersection called “Bank Circle”. Witnesses say that some Jeeps with tinted windows and no state license plates persecuted Zatikyan’s “Mercedes-Brabus” Jeep (“10SS045”) from the Tichina street. Some shots were fired once the Jeeps reached the “Bank intersection”. Zatikyan tried to escape after getting shot a couple of times. But he lost control of the wheel, hit a truck standing in front of the “Silk Factory” just 500 meters away from the scene of the crime and died. According to other sources, the person who killed S. Zatikyan didn’t persecute him by car, but rather waited for him at the “Bank Circle”. When Zatikyan passed by him, he took out an automatic gun and started shooting in that direction. Zatikyan started to avoid the shots while physically injured. But the assassin ran after the car and continued shooting. What’s interesting is that there were rumors going around that the person who killed Zatikyan was a small, thin young man. Different people are spreading different versions. There was especially one rumor that the murderer was one of MP Samvel Alexanyan’s friends, especially since he and Zatikyan had gotten into a conflict a couple of days before the event concerning the distribution of the Malatia market. However, police denied that rumor. They came to the conclusion that the one who killed Zatikyan was someone who knows MP Hakob Hakobyan. In fact, during an interview given to “Azatutyun” radio station, Hakob Hakobyan said:
“It doesn’t matter if he’s my brother or my son-the person responsible must be punished.” They say that Hakob Hakobyan took his nephew to the police in person. According to our sources, after the incident, Vahan Zatikyan’s younger son Andranik Zatikyan fired some shots in front of the house of the assassins, but there was nobody in the house. Fortunately, no passer-bys were injured.
On June 24, National Assembly MP Hakob Habkoyan’s nephew Stepan Hakboyan was arrested and the prosecutor’s office accused him of acquiring weapons illegally and keeping them based on the 1st section of the 235th article of the Criminal Code of Armenia.