The Office of Public Prosecutor of Shirak region brought charges against Spartak Ghukasyan, son of Gyumri mayor Vardan Ghukasyan, as well as Rustam Sargsyan and Telman Karapetyan under Articles 34-104 Chapter 2, Point 1, 6 and 7, Article 235 Chapter 1 and Article 258 Chapter 4 of the Criminal Code of Armenia. The three young men are wanted for the shooting on May 20 at the intersection of Teryan and Ghukasyan streets, a crowded part of the city. The “war” of the sons ignited from the political controversies between their fathers; the mayor is a Republican, and Rustam Sargsyan’s father is a member of the Prosperous Armenia Party. On May 20, at 6 o’clock in the evening, Rustam Sargsyan had an argument with Norayr Soloyan at the Metelitsa bar and restaurant he owns. They argued for 10 minutes, then they went out to the courtyard where Rustam Sargsyan shot twice at Norayr Soloyan’s legs with his unregistered gun. Soloyan was injured in the right leg and left the scene. Later, at half past seven in the evening, at the intersection of Teryan and Ghukasyan Streets in Gyumri, Telman Karapetyan and Rustam Sargsyan in his land cruiser and Spartak Ghukasyan and two other people in his H2 shot at each other, but nobody got killed. Hamaspyur Mnatsakanyan, a passer-by, was injured in the right hand, andthe walls and windows of the surrounding houses were damaged. The two machine guns and two revolvers used by Robert Sargsyan and Telman Karapetyan were confiscated. By the way, Hamaspyur Mnatsakanyan is not the first person who has suffered from the battles of the “golden” youth. Besides, a child has been missing since the day of the shooting, and many think the child got killed, and the body was buried somewhere. Besides, in speaking about his son’s recent “exploit”, Vardan Ghukasyan said Spartak defended his friend’s honor. “Nobody has been arrested in connection with this case so far,” the spokeswoman for the law-enforcement agency, Sona Truzyan, told, denying rumors circulating in Gyumri about dozens of arrests. But she said the investigators have already found two expensive cars, two assault rifles, and two pistols used in the shootout. The investigators also questioned Mayor Ghukasyan on Thursday in connection with the incident. In a televised interview broadcast earlier this week, he vehemently denied his son’s involvement. He also accused the media and his rivals of discrediting his family, which was widely linked with other instances of violence reported in Gyumri in recent years. The flamboyant mayor, who is a senior member of the governing Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), was seriously wounded in a mysterious drive-by shooting that killed three of his bodyguards about two months ago. Ghukasian has linked the apparent assassination attempt to his membership in the RPA.
P.S. According to 34-104 Article of the Criminal Code, such attempts of murder and endangering the safety of others defines 8-15 years of imprisonment. Other articles defining imprisonment include the possession of illegal weapons and hooliganism.