«Hraparak». The Government Attempts to Fabricate a Case Against Vanetsyan

«Hraparak» newspaper reports that the government is using repressive methods to fabricate a case against former NSS head Arthur Vanetsyan. Yesterday morning, near the flower market adjacent to Vazgen Sargsyan Stadium, police took one of the market workers, named Karen, to the 6th division without explanation and coerced him to claim that he had extorted money from flower vendors. They also forced him to write down who his 'boss' was and to whom he had given the extorted funds. The worker refused to make false statements, after which he was subjected to physical violence, being struck in the ribs and legs.

The matter is that Arthur Vanetsyan's father, Gagik Vanetsyan, is the founder of “Av Group” LLC, one of the companies that imports bouquets, flowers, cocoons, and decorative greens into Armenia. During Ruben Hayrapetyan's presidency at the Football Federation of Armenia, a lease agreement was signed between the stadium management and one of the companies involved in the flower business, and for years a portion of the area adjacent to the stadium has served as a wholesale flower market. We contacted the police, who confirmed our information: “Yes, a citizen named Karen has been detained on suspicion of engaging in illegal entrepreneurship.” According to our information, about 5 people have been detained. Some of them have physical injuries.

Details in today’s issue of the newspaper.