In a commentary on the violent death of Armenia’s former police chief Hayk Harutiunian, “Aravot” says that Robert Kocharian’s lawyers are more professional than prosecutors accusing the former president of corruption and coup d’état. “One evidence of this is the fact that the former president’s lawyers are succeeding in ensuring that the trial on the March 1 [2008] case does not start [in earnest] for months,” writes the paper. “The number of people who could potentially give testimony is shrinking in the process.” It hopes that the current authorities will be “professional enough to ensure the security of other witnesses.”
Lragir.am likewise notes that the authorities are losing “key witnesses” in the case. The publication says that Harutiunian is the fourth deceased former official who was involved in the events of March 2008. “One of the key witnesses in this case, former Defense Minister Mikael Harutiunian, is on the run,” it says. “He is in Russia, has Russian citizenship and is therefore not subject to extradition.” It also notes that the newly sacked director of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS), Artur Vanetsian, reported last year the disappearance of important documents relating to the probe of the March 2008 violence.
“The fact is that the country continues to experience shocks,” writes “Zhoghovurd,” pointing to only Hayk Harutiunian’s suspected suicide but also Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s war of words with Vanetsian. “One should analyze and determine how expedient this public exchange, which started in Los Angeles in front of the outside world, is,” says the paper. It wonders if Pashinian’s comparison between Vanetsian and 1991 Soviet coup plotters puts the former NSS chief at risk of prosecution. The paper is also worried about the row’s possible negative impact on Armenia’s national security and international reputation.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
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