Bodybuilding champion Vahram Hakobyan continues to insist that he is a part of a fabricated criminal case

In previous publications we have covered a criminal case that involves Armenia’s bodybuilding champion Vahram Hakobyan, in the framework of which he is accused in “extortion”, according to him, based on his old friend’s testimony.

As we have covered this case many times during the entire process of investigation and court hearings, we contacted Vahram Hakobyan again to ask if there is any news or new developments in that case.

We asked if this relative silence in relation to this case means anything, in answer to which he said: “What silence are you speaking about? Things are not silent at all: even though I am not in Armenia, I am watching the processes very carefully. My lawyer takes active part in all court hearings. Or, what extortion? What are you talking about? That still has to be proven, which is not going to happen. There was no extortion at all. Furthermore, that voice recording, which they are saying was done by Vaghinak Ghazaryan with special recording equipment, and which was used to develop this criminal case, I believe was obtained illegally. That recording was analyzed by a representative of a reputable company, and they assured me that it is not a recording with special recording equipment but just a simple recording that was done with iPhone, which the National Security Service of Artashat region, apparently due to the personal contacts of the claimant, put under this case and sent to investigation as an accomplished fact.

Now I am assuring and insisting as a fact, and you should write all my words as they are, that even the Armenian Constitution prohibits the use of proofs obtained through violation of main rights. I am assuring that my conversation was recorded by an individual through violation of my right for personal information privacy, and then that recording that was obtained through illegal means was used as if it had been done through the use of special recording equipment. This is totally illegal and fabricated. Even though that recording was illegal, still they did not find what they were expecting to see in it to be able to use as a ground for criminal case. My lawyer has applied for taking that recording for expertise, so I am waiting with great interest to see how fair the court and justice system is in Armenia, even though I didn’t see any sign of justice in the behaviour of the investigation services and the way they fabricated this case. I hope that at least the court will be unbiased and objective. I am hoping, but I am not going to sit here without doing anything – I will do everything to prove that.”

According to our sources of information, as Vahram Hakobyan worked for tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan in the past, he is not in good relations with Mr. Tsarukyan and the chief of his security service Eduard Babayan. Especially, he was not in good relations with Eduard Babayan. We asked Vahram Hakobyan to comment on these rumors, in answer to which he said: “I would refrain from commenting on what you said, however, I will tell you one thing, and based on that you can make your own conclusions. Recently I suddenly remembered about a publication by “Radio Liberty’s” web site, which was published one month before these processes started happening to me. Please post a link to that article (the article can be accessed at the following link:).

All the people in the picture in that article are currently in different court disputes now and all of them have problems with courts. At that time, I was training at the “Olympavan” sport complex as I was preparing for participation in world championship. You can see me too in that picture. What’s the relationship between my personal relations and this case? I am asking a question. Why did they post such an old picture? When I look back at the chronology and analyze what processes started happening after that, I understand everything. At that time, I did not understand, however, now I understand that this criminal case is a part of a bigger campaign. I don’t see any sign of justice there. Now I am waiting to see what the court will say about the result of that recording professional expertise, or whether the court will ignore it, in the same manner as many things were ignored in the investigation phase, or whether there will be any signs of justice in court.”

We will cover future developments in this case and will post more updates in the future.

Prepared by Kamo Mailyan

Note. A suspect or accused person is considered innocent unless proven guilty in the manner established by law.