In the reality these phenomena comply with the behaviour of the
authorities. At least, the people, who had conflict in Nor Hachn city,
were backed by the authorities, and these kinds of cases always lead
either to fighting or to murder. As we know, on Sunday the mayor of Nor
Hachn, named Armen Keshishyan (born in 1966, and his nickname is Uzbo)
shot the director of “Arzni” electric power station Ashot Mkhitaryan
(born in 1967) with his “Vicking” pistol. By the way, this pistol has
been presented to Armen Keshishyan by the Prime Minister of Armenia
Andranik Markaryan. We were informed by the prosecutor of Kotayk region
Grisha Mikaelyan, that Ashot Mkhitaryan had built a cafe without having
permission. The mayor of that city Armen Keshishyan, along with some
colleaques, tried to stop this construction, but Ashot Mkhitaryan
didn’t let them do that. On September 24 this conflict continued at the
crossroad of Harutiunyan and Torozyan streets. And at this crossroad
Keshishyan killed Mkhitaryan with the gun, which had been given to him
as a present by the Prime Minister. But according to the information
given by the public, the reason for this murder was the forthcoming
district elections. The problem is that only two persons were nominated
for this position: non-partisan Armen Keshishyan, who is the present
mayor and a member of “Democracy and Freedom” political party Babken
Margaryan, who was supported by Ashot Mkhitaryan. The fact, that
Mkhitaryan backed Ashot Margaryan could have a serious impact on the
election results: in Nor Hachn Ashot Mkhitaryan was known as a “de
jure” head of the city. He was not only the director of the Arzni
branch of electric power stations, but also, he was the owner of
Erevan- Nor Hachn -Argel transport route. And before that Armen
Keshishyan had worked under the management of Ashot Mkhitaryan. It is
worth to mention, that Mkhitaryan and Keshishyan had been friends since
childhood, but it was more then one year, that these two people had
serious conflicts. Anyway, on September 25 the Public Prosecutor’s
Office of Kotayk region instituted legal proceedings against Armen
Keshishyan (Criminal Code of RA, Article 104, second provision
(premeditated murder in a way, which is dangerous for other people
too)) and took him into custody. This article provides deprivation of
liberty for 6-12 years. But the arrest of Armen Keshishyan cannot
deprive him of his rights to participate in the elections. And as they
haven’t passed sentence on him yet, Keshishyan can continue his
election procedures in his quarantine period with the help of his
proxies, and he is doing just that.
By the way, at the scene of the crime, there were two policemen present
and they didn’t do anything to prevent him from committing the crime.
Kotayk region prosecutor Grisha Mikaelian informed us during our
conversation by phone, that the policemen were not directly close to
that place at the moment. “When the crime was being committed, they
tried to make the group of people come down, who were arguing not far
from the construction place”,-said Mr Mikaelian. But actually Ashot
Mkhitaryan was killed by Armen Keshishyan not far from the construction
place.
P.S. Ashot Mkhitaryan was the husband of Arshak Mkhitaryan’s
sister, who had been elected as a member of the National Assembly by
“Rule of law” political party proportional lists. Besides that, he was
in good relations with member of the National Assembly Gagik Tsarukyan.
And the mayor of Nor Hachn had been the adviser of military general
prosecutor Gagik Jhangiryan.