The chief bodyguard of Gagik Tsarukian prosecuted on assault charges is among the candidates of the tycoon’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) running in the December 9 parliamentary elections.
Eduard Babayan was arrested in early July hours after a 50-year-old man in Yerevan was hospitalized with serious injuries. The latter claimed to have been beaten up at a compound of Armenia’s National Olympic Committee headed by Tsarukian. He said he was hit by Tsarukian before being repeatedly kicked and punched by Babayan and another person.
Both the tycoon and Babayan strongly denied assaulting the man. The burly bodyguard was charged even though the alleged victim later retracted his incriminating testimony.
Babayan was freed on bail in August. The BHK leadership subsequently decided to include him on its list of more than 170 election candidates.
A senior BHK representative, Vahe Enfiajian, defended the decision on Friday, insisting that Babayan did not beat up anyone.
“There are no bad figures on our list, there are only good figures there,” Enfiajian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “As for who will enter the [new] parliament, it’s up to our people to decide.”
Asked whether the BHK considers the bodyguard a political figure, he said: “Every citizen of Armenia has a right to elect and get elected, and whether or not they should engage in further political activities depends on [voters’ choice.]”
Armenian media have repeatedly implicated Tsarukian’s bodyguards and Babayan in particular in violence, including against opponents of the country’s previous governments, in the past. The tycoon always denied those claims.
The BHK boasts the second largest group in the outgoing Armenian parliament. It controlled five ministerial posts in Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government until recently.
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