On Saturday, a shooting at the Silikyan District (Third Village) cemetery was reported to the Police. The police found the bodies of Artavazd Vardanyan and Vardan Melikyan, who was accompanying Vardanyan, at the grave of Vardanyan’s father, Ashot Vardanyan. The policemen found out that Grigor Stepanyan was taken to Malatia Hospital with wounds from the cemetery shooting and died at the hospital. The police found a Saiga M4 hunting rifle from Vardanyan’s Ford Explorer car. The office of the public prosecutor of the Ajapniak and Davitashen communities is investigating the case. Ashot Vardanyan, who owned the pastry company “Kaghtsrik” and a restaurant, was fatally shot in downtown Yerevan in broad daylight in March, 2006. The police eventually identified a man who they say murdered the 53-year-old businessman, but failed to arrest and prosecute him. According to one version of the Saturday incident, the murder may be directly connected with other conspicuous murders perpetrated in Armenia recently. It’s worth mentioning that during this year dozens of people have become victims of such murders in Yerevan. In the meantime, dozens of policemen are receiving “kilos” of honor medals for the “great” work they do for the society.
Three men were shot dead in a cemetery in the Silikyan community of Yerevan on Saturday at about 9:00 p.m., becoming the latest victims of an apparent bloody vendetta between two wealthy families related to each other. The Prospector General’s Office said in a brief statement that an “unknown person” has shot Artavazd Vardanyan, who had visited his father’s grave, and his friends Vardan Melikyan and Grigor Stepanyan.
Thirty-three-year-old Artavazd Vardanyan was gunned down on his father’s tombstone, and Vardan Melikyan near the cemetery gate. The police found a Saiga M4 hunting rifle from Artavazd Vardanyan’s Ford Explorer car. The office of the public prosecutor of the Ajapniak and Davitashen communities is investigating the case. The policemen found out that Grigor Stepanyan was taken to the Malatia Hospital with wounds from the cemetery shooting and died at the hospital. The Prosecutor General’s Office has also issued a statement, which informs that the Ajapniak and Davitashen communities are investigating the case based on clause 6 and the 1st part of Article 104 of the Criminal Code of RA and the first part of Article 235 of the Code (murder of 2 or more people, illegal weapons). An investigative group was created. Fourteen shells and one bullet were found at the scene of the incident. Also, Artavazd Vardanyan is the son of Ashot Vardanyan, who owned a pastry company named “Kaghtstik”. It’s worth reminding that the owner of Kaghtsrik CJSC, Ashot Vardanyan, born in 1952, was killed on March 4, 2006 in broad daylight (near #37 building of Sayat Nova street) by gunshots to his head and chest. The murder was committed in the presence of numerous people. At the moment when Vardanyan tried to get in his “Niva” car, an unknown person shot him twice and fled. About three months after this incident, our police announced that the crime had been investigated. They confirmed the version of revenge. The police found out that the murder was committed by Yerevan resident H. Karapetyan. Karapetyan was considered a suspect and was investigated. However the suspect hasn’t yet been found. “Kaghtsrik” CJSC, whose founding director was Ashot Vardanyan, was a pastry company. According to certain rumors, Vardanyan’s and his son’s murder on Saturday was an act of revenge. According to certain information, years ago clashes ignited between the Vardanyans and some other people, which were never solved. There are also rumors that the circle of these murders may also be the murder of Stepan Vardanyan, who was shot near “Pandok” restaurant on May 9 of this year. According to those rumors, Ashot and Artavazd Vardanyans are relatives of Stepan Vardanyan, and the reason of the murders is inner-family revenge. There are also rumors that the arguments started because of the control of certain businesses. This means that the relatives couldn’t come to an agreement concerning certain issues and decided to solve the problems in the mentioned way. Let’s also remind that, incidentally, the owner of the restaurant in question, Levon Gulyan, died in police custody on May 12 in still unclear circumstances after three days of interrogations. Gulyan’s family says the 31-year-old was brutally tortured by his interrogators, while the police claim that he fell to his death while attempting to escape from the police building. These murders prove that it’s dangerous to live in Armenia because it seems that our police don’t seem to investigate and punish any of the suspects. It’s only enough to remind that during the past several years, four or five dozen murders were committed in Armenia, the overwhelming part of which hasn’t been solved. Only this year over a dozen people have become accidental victims of the mentioned murders (innocent bystanders). Thus, on January 24, former senior notary officer Sona Veranyan was murdered in her office in Vanadzor. On February 15 on the Teryan street “Relax” disco club, Artashes Hambardzumyan, born in 1975, and Mher Poghosyan, born in 1973 (the latter is famous in the criminal world with his nickname “Mgst”), were murdered. A few days after this, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced that the murder had been investigated, and even said that the name of the murderer is V. Gevorgyan. Many in Armenia feel that such crimes, most of them still not solved, result from a sense of impunity reigning among wealthy government-connected individuals and their families. Many of them possess weapons, including assault rifles, and have armed bodyguards.
Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri was rocked last May by a daylight shootout between two groups of young men, reportedly led by sons of Gyumri Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan and a prominent local businessman. They both were charged with involvement in the gunfight but remain at large, with police claiming to be unaware of their whereabouts. A few days after that, in Yerevan, two offices of Prosperous Armenia were blown up. This case still hasn’t been solved. And on April 23 a supporter of parliamentary candidate Victor Dallakyan, Hrant Hakobyan, was murdered in Vanadzor. On April 28, in the courtyard of Komitas 1 building in Yerevan, Samvel Shahverdyan, 41 (known boss in Komitas district, nickname “Mergelyani Samvelik”) was murdered. As we mentioned, Stepan Vardanyan was shot dead near Pandok restaurant on May 9 and three days after that, on May 12, Levon Gulyan, witness of the murder, died under suspicious circumstances in the police building. On May 20, an armed argument broke out in Gyumri between the son of the Gyumri mayor and the son of the head of the local branch office of Prosperous Armenia. That day, a child playing near the scene of the crime disappeared and a salesperson of one of the nearby stores was injured. The police are searching for the son of the mayor, but still without results. And over 5 months remain before the end of 2007.