Yesterday at about 4:30pm Armenia’s police released prominent pro-opposition businessman Khachatur Sukiasyan’s brother and one of his associates. Saribek Sukiasyan, the co-owner of the family’s SIL Concern holding company, and director of the Airarat market in Yerevan Artash Stepanyan, were kept in police custody for more than 72 hours on suspicion of threatening to kill a fellow entrepreneur in what Armenia’s main opposition has described as another example of political persecution against its supporters. Let us remember that on February 12 at about 4:30p.m. Saribek Sukiasyan and one of his associates, Artash Stepanyan, were forcibly taken to a police station in Erebuni district from the offices of the Sukiasyan family’s SIL Concern holding company. They were suspected of threatening to kill a fellow entrepreneur. But no weapon was found with the suspects. The latter signed a written undertaking not to leave the city while the investigation into a murder threat claim made against them was in progress. A police statement issued later that day said the raid was prompted by a complaint from a Yerevan resident identified as Gor Davtyan. It said that Sukiasyan and Stepanyan forced Davtyan to sign “some documents” relating to his shares in a company called Byuregh. Sukiasyan and Stepanyan were charged based on 137 and 235 articles of the Criminal Code of Armenia, which defines “act of threat, such as murder and destruction of property” and “bearing illegal weapon.” Although the latter were taken to police station at 4:30 but the police release mentioned 6pm as the hour of arrest. And today at the same hour 72 hours of their arrest was registered. It means that during this period the police should have brought up concrete accusations against the two suspects. But they didn’t do this. The latter were released after they signed a written undertaking not to leave the city while the investigation into a murder threat claim made against them was in progress. Let us remember that according to the Friday statement of the police Davtyan sold his 41 percent stake in Byuregh to Sukiasyan’s wife Aspram Tonoyan in October 2008 but that Armenia’s Court of Cassation annulled the deal in a year. It said Davtyan faced “real death threats” when he visited Sukiasyan earlier on Friday and informed the latter that he has found another buyer for the shares. As we have informed during the meeting Davtyan went out for a short time to send a text message to RA Police. Yesterday the head of the Public Relations Department of the RA Police Sayat Shirinyan confirmed this information and said that Davtyan informed them via SMS, which contained information about the made threats. Shirinyan also added that although Sukiasyan and Stepanyan were taken to the police due to the threats but at the time the Police didn’t find any illegal weapon in their office. Let us recall that the deal of Sukiasyan’s factory Byuregh was cancelled because of the suit of the Ministry of Agriculture of Armenia. It turns out that during that period the Ministry owned 10% of the stocks. It also became clear that the new owner of the stocks is the NA MP Ruben Hairapetyan. Last week the MP promised to give details regarding this issue but so far nothing had been heard. By the way, various European structures made calls to the RA authorities. In particular, the head of the RA delegation to the PACE Davit Harutyunyan told us that he had received a call from the personnel of the PACE Monitoring Committee. And it is obvious that the police had real difficulties to plant a case on the two suspects without evidence. And it would be very hard to prove this to European structures.
