On September 6 the ex-foreign minister of Armenia, initiator of the Civil Disobedience Movement, and an ANM member Alexander Arzumanyan, who had been arrested May 7 on a charge of money laundering, was unexpectedly set free from the isolation ward of the National Security Service of Armenia.
A few days prior to his release the so-called “court” has accepted the demand of the NSS to prolong the detention of Arzumanyan for two more months. After his release the Prosecutor General of Armenia, Aghvan Hovsepyan said that the accusation remains unchanged because Arzumanyan wasn’t able to give grounds about the money transfers. Later the Prosecutor General announced literally the following, “the police will further continue the investigation of the case”. As they say “NO COMMENT”. From the very beginning this case was based on groundless accusations and perhaps that is the reason that the accusation itself was ruined. We have already presented the details of this case to our readers. During the press conference organized in Pressing Club Arzumanyan said, “Yesterday I was a political detainee and today a political outcast.” Arzumanyan who initiated the Civil Disobedience Movement, held a news conference on September 10 after his release from the isolation ward of the National Security Service. The conference was at the Pressing press club. Alexander Arzumanyan says both his arrest and release are manifestations of arbitrariness in Armenia. “There was no case. There were no criminal charges. The prosecutor general confirmed that if you heard him a few days ago. I must restore my reputation. They pinned labels on me. The prosecutor states to the country that there was a crime; the National Security Service only needs to prove that Sashik Aghazaryan’s money is illegal. In other words, they only need to do what is needed to consider and suspect of money laundering. There remains only to do what they must begin with. In other words, it shows that they took me to the isolation ward four months ago for nothing, and put up a case,” Alexander Arzumanyan says. Sashik Aghazaryan and Alexander Arzumanyan were friends at school, and after his arrest he stated that he had sent him the money, so there is nothing secret or illegal about it. Alexander Arzumanyan does not know why he was arrested and why he was released. He does not believe that one representative of the pyramid instructed to arrest him and the other instructed to release him. “For the rumored controversy between Robert Kocharyan and Serge Sargsyan, I cannot imagine the regime without this tandem. I find no controversy between them. My release gave me a surprise, just like you,” Alexander Arzumanyan said. He said his wife visited him three hours before the release. If they were going to release me, why did they allow me to meet my wife three hours before the release, Alexander Arzumanyan asks? “Apparently, it is not a legal procedure. If it were a legal procedure, they would know beforehand, they would not allow my wife to visit me at 17.30 to send me home at 20:30. In other words, it is not only political order but also legal arbitrariness,” Alexander Arzumanyan says. He thinks both his arrest and release are the problem of the people who gave the instructions. Alexander Arzumanyan says he does not know yet why he was arrested, what they feared. “If they arrested on a put-up charge, they were afraid of something. If I am a political figure who scares some people, I am proud of that,” Alexander Arzumanyan says. According to him, his arrest might be a signal for other political figures to behave themselves otherwise they will be punished like me. Alexander Arzumanyan says he will have everyone apologize to him, and will go to the ECHR to restore his reputation. “I expect the apology of everyone who was involved in this case, who instructed and who fulfilled the instructions. I have questions, I wonder how the judges who make illegal decisions and appear funny look their wives, children in the eye. Let them tell me excuse us, we were told to do that. Let them tell me who was involved in my illegal arrest and apologize to me,” Alexander Arzumanyan says. Arzumanyan said he has such a crystal biography that the government was unable to find anything over these four months that would enable them to convict him. Alexander Arzumanyan thanked the reporters for support and said he believes the reporters do the real work, while the politicians do not. Alexander Arzumanyan also said he was treated with respect at the isolation ward. “People know what is going on in our country. I am respected not only in the street, in the neighborhood, but also at the prison, Alexander Arzumanyan stated."