Armenia continues mafia clampdown as more suspects face “thief-in-law” charges

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. The Committee of Investigations has pressed charges of “Creating or Leading a Criminal Subculture Group” against Arsen “Arsen Yerevansky” Mkrtchyan, a reputed “thief-in-law” said to have been crowned as such in 1999 by "thief-in-law" Maels “Kndo Mayis” Mkrtchyan (now deceased) and "thief-in-law" Aslan “Ded Hasan” Usoyan, the Russian mob boss who was shot dead on 16 January 2013 in Moscow.

11 others are also facing criminal charges.

Under the Armenian law enactedearlier this year, it is illegal to belong to a “criminal subculture” even if the suspect isn’t linked to having committed any other crime.

The Committee of Investigations said Arsen Yerevansky continued maintaining his criminal status after the initiation of the anti-mafia law and used his influence as a thief in law to resolve various disputes or gain illicit profits, among other actions.

Earlier, on 28 August, authorities jailed reputed crime boss, “thief-in-law” Gevorg “Oshakantsi Gevorik” Melikyan on similar charges. Days later, reputed crime boss Andranik “Zap Leninakansky” Soghoyan was placed under arrest for allegedly leading an organized crime syndicate as a “thief in law”.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan