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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has defended the arrest of former State Revenue Committee Chairman Gagik Khachatryan, dismissing allegations that law enforcement officers tortured him and saying the footage of his arrest should serve as a warning to corrupt officials that they will be held accountable.
Gagik Khachatryan, 71, served as SRC chairman from 2008 to 2014 and as finance minister from 2014 to 2016 under then-President Serzh Sargsyan. He was arrested earlier this week in a major bribery and money laundering investigation.
Footage of the arrest released by the former official’s legal team sparked controversy, as he was seen groaning in pain as officers moved him from his bed onto a stretcher before taking him to court.
Another video showed Khachatryan lying on several chairs pushed together at the pretrial investigation body, reportedly due to poor health. His lawyers claimed he was tortured.
Asked to comment, PM Pashinyan indicated that Khachatryan was faking his health problems.
“I am following this controversy, and it is difficult to call it anything other than a disgrace. First, I believe that our law enforcement system had no reason to act if the justification for that action had not been obvious to it. No one in Armenia’s law enforcement system will act according to any other logic; there is no reason to act otherwise. I want to thank all the members of our law enforcement system, starting with the officers holding that stretcher, for taking the faker to exactly where he needed to be taken.
“I believe that all current and former corrupt officials should see that scene, because, as I have said, no one should slip away. Armenia has experienced a revolution of love and solidarity, where we said that everyone has a chance. They too had a chance to come and say, ‘You know, we stole billions from Armenia and want to return it,’” Pashinyan said.
He expressed the view that the majority of Armenian citizens’ reaction to the footage of Gagik Khachatryan’s arrest is that, finally, promises of justice in Armenia are becoming reality.
“That is how many people who have been dispossessed as a result of the actions of the mafia that operated in Armenia for years, who have been subjected to torture, abuse, and so on, will react. I want to express my satisfaction with those scenes, because someone who stole billions from Armenia cannot hide under a stretcher to evade responsibility. Let all corrupt officials see that each and every one of them must bear responsibility. If previously they had the opportunity to give away most of what they had stolen and keep a small part, they no longer have that opportunity. After these people are imprisoned, I don’t know how long they will remain there or when they will get out, because the state will provide for their living expenses in prison. But when they are free, they should check their cards three times a day on the first of every month to see whether their pension has been deposited, because that should be their only means of subsistence. Yes, they should be dispossessed, literally, and I want to state that the fact that these people have continued to remain free and retain possession of their property for eight years is only because the mafia operating in Armenia, unfortunately, still has its tentacles in all government bodies. It is my duty before the people of Armenia to find all those tentacles one by one, cut them off and uproot them. Let no one doubt that we will resolutely continue down this path, while I consider those scenes a hope that justice will be established in Armenia,” the prime minister concluded.
A court earlier on Wednesday approved pre-trial detention for Khachatryan, who stands accused of multimillion-dollar bribery and money laundering charges.
The Prosecutor’s Office earlier said a medical examination found that Khachatryan has no health problems preventing him from participating in procedural actions.