"Fact": They are preventing him from opening a political party, they have offered to "remove the bracelet" if he leaves Armenia

The “Fact” daily writes: “It became known months ago that Artak Sargsyan, one of the “Arthur brothers”, has decided to engage in political activity and is founding a party. According to the information we have, he is being prevented from doing so. It should also be noted that Artak Sargsyan is currently under house arrest. We spoke with him about a number of issues. The latter noted that the criminal case is in the preliminary investigation stage. “The maximum term was one year, but the body conducting the proceedings has suspended the term for the third time. The preliminary investigation has been ongoing for almost a year and six months.

The other day I received a new letter that they are suspending the term for another four months. They have the right to suspend it for up to 2 years,” Sargsyan says in an interview with “Pasti”. He emphasizes that the main reason for this is to keep him away from the street struggle, the pressures. “When I was under administrative control, they would send people from time to time, saying, ‘Do you like this situation, this status?’ They would say, ‘Come on, you give up your political views, let’s take off your bracelet, go to Kenya, you were living in luxury, what business do you have here?’ Now they are creating a situation where it is dangerous to engage in politics in Armenia. They say, ‘Let us do our job, what business do you have, but whose homeland would you leave in such danger,’” our interlocutor notes.

Referring to the charges, he emphasizes: “The first was the standard charge of illegal possession of weapons and ammunition. They couldn’t put the weapons in the house, our family members filmed the search on their phones. Then they changed the charges. One of them is the charge of illegal entry into the country. They justify it by saying that I received passports, but there is no entry-exit in the SECT system. I said that I received the passport from the embassies, bring the first form. Of course, they didn’t bring it so that the house arrest would be extended after June. I was forced to send my family to different countries, where I remembered that my passports were still there. There are passports that I handed over, there are those that I didn’t hand over, because the visas hadn’t expired. They brought my passports and presented them to Judge Masis Melkonyan.

The same signature and stamp that is in the first form are put in the passport. The ambassador cuts out the old passport series, sticks it to the first form, and writes on the passport: “The passport has been canceled, but the visas are still active.” At that time, Masis Melkonyan changed the house arrest to administrative, and it seemed to us that that charge was “out,” and money laundering remained. I will comment on this part as well. I am the creator of a special squad in Kenya, a deputy police chief, and a lieutenant general. In 2004, we arrested a large batch of cocaine. The Court of Cassation made its decision, there was no other appeal structure, I proposed to eliminate that batch. Representatives of 12 embassies, including the US and England, were present at the process.

We started burning it in the crematorium, the leader of the opposition, my former teammate, later my enemy, came and said that this is not cocaine, we have changed it. We stopped the burning, the US ambassador brought a catalyst. They took whatever they wanted from the batch, put it in the catalyst, it turned purple, and burned it. The head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and other UN representatives were present at that operation, who gave us certificates of appreciation and commendations after the burning.

The same thing, from the embassies. The leader of the opposition went to the editorial office of a newspaper that we had closed for inciting inter-ethnic hostility, it belonged to the former president, whom we had “thrown” from the throne and won the elections, and, in the language of the people, two “abzhanniks” published an article that the “Arthur brothers” had changed cocaine. That article was criticized even by the UN. The newspaper responded that it was an interview, it was freedom of speech, the person was expressing an opinion. The topic was closed.

Along with positive articles about us, such as how the “Arthur brothers” brought investments to Kenya, how they built the Mombasa port, etc., as a result of searches, that old article also appears. The investigators take it and accuse us, saying that at that time we allegedly sold cocaine and turned it into cryptocurrency. At the beginning of the same article it says that they are 6 brothers, each brother does a job in a different part of the world, but in reality we are 3 brothers.

During the trial, I told the judge, "Mr. Judge, those three brothers of mine are criminals. Arrest them, bring them in, and I'll give my testimony." The investigator stood up and said, "We didn't say that, but the leader of the opposition there. We know that you are three brothers." That's exactly what I wanted to hear, and I told them, "How is it that you say that part of the same article is a lie, that it doesn't help you, and the second part helps you, and you want to initiate some kind of proceedings with that." They've been suspending the deadline for a year, saying that they sent requests to several countries where we've been. I've been to 72 countries, and I have various types of activities in 14 countries.

"They have sent requests to Oman, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia, and they say, 'Until we get a response from these countries, we won't know whether to close the case or not.' They will get a response from these countries, and they will say that other countries should send requests. Their main goal is repression," our interlocutor notes.

Sargsyan also wants to open a political party, but the authorities are preventing him from doing so. "They are not giving me my documents: ID, bank cards, phones, phone numbers, they were taken during my arrest. A petition is being submitted: give me my ID, since I am opening a political party, I need to register, give me my bank cards so that I can use my accounts."

By the way, there is no seizure or ban on my accounts, but they don’t give me my cards, I say, give me my phones, my phone chips, so that I can use my contacts. The court hearings are a complete farce,” says Sargsyan. The problematic issues will become the subject of discussion later, since the latter does not want to be accused of obstructing the course of the case. “With their actions, they show that they are punishing me.”