Artur Vanetsyan: “I would advise Mr. Ioannisyan to sit down and be calm”
“I’ve known Tokhmakhi Babo (well-known criminal) since 1996 when I was serving in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and he was serving as an officer of the Military Police. I knew him, he was an officer, I was a soldier. I had no close ties with him. He was simply an officer, and I knew him. The allegations that are fired don’t correspond to reality. I have never had and don’t have friendly ties with Arshak Hakobyan. I have known many people, but I don’t have close ties with them. As for “Vstrechi Aper” (Aram Vardanyan), I have interacted with him once or twice, but the relations have only been practical relations. He had committed an offense, and I apprehended him and took him to the Investigative Department of the National Security Service for an interview. I don’t have contacts with other people. If there is a desire to make sensational statements, I would advise Mr. Ioannisyan to sit down and be calm,” Director of the National Security Service Artur Vanetsyan declared during a conversation with journalists at the National Assembly, touching upon the allegation of representative of the Union of Informed Citizens NGO Daniel Iaonnisyan, according to which Vanetsyan has close ties with well-known criminals such as Vstrechi Aper, Tokhmakhi Babo and Vovayi Arshak.
According to Vanetsyan, Ioannisyan’s statements make him laugh. “The National Security Service is operating within the scope of its powers and within the scope of specific laws.”
Touching upon Davit Sanasaryan’s case, the Director of the National Security Service stated that the Investigative Department is conducting a preliminary investigation.
Touching upon the comparisons between him and Sashik Sargsyan (brother of former President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan), Vanetsyan made the following statement and asked a question: “A citizen makes a statement that Sashik has turned into the National Security Service and the opposite, and someone else says if a citizen declares that the National Security Service has turned into Sashik, then this is a serious alarm. I would like to ask the following: Has anyone brought 50% of Sashik’s funds to me?”
According to Vanetsyan, he will institute a case against himself, if there is a somewhat substantiated fact about his involvement in a corruption crime.
As far as the payment of 50% of shares to Sashik Sargsyan is concerned, Vanetsyan noted that he hasn’t confirmed this. “Did you participate in the sketches of KVN (Club of Funny and Inventive People, Russian comedy show)? If there was $30 million and more on Alexander Sargsyan’s bank account, has anyone ever asked where he got all that money from?”
Vanetsyan noted that he had information about that in the past, but the political elite of the time didn’t let him provide the information. “An official investigation will help give the answers to those questions soon.”
