The splendor and misery of Armenian investigative journalism. Arsen Torosyan, deputy of the National Assembly, made a note with such a comment.
“Yesterday, an article about me and people interrelated with me was published in the Internet newspaper “Hetk” in such a style and logic that it seems that I have been leading a “criminal syndicate” for a long time.
A major part of the information about me in that publication is available in my and my wife’s declarations, the other part will be published in the declarations of 2022 within the period defined by the law. There is no sensationalism in this information and considering the fact that since 2018, I am considered a person submitting a declaration, the information presented by us in our declarations has been published many times in the press, including the last time a few months ago. It is strange for me to present it again these days as a “discovery”. In fact, it is very understandable why this is being done right now, ahead of the “Civil Contract” Party conference.
Low-quality journalistic work is evidenced by an example, where it is presented as a terrible “discovery” that my father was the owner of some non-working LLC share back in 1996, when I was a 14-year-old schoolboy. And the most interesting thing is that I didn’t find out about it myself and it was really a “discovery” for me. Or, when I am presented as a tourism business person in the context of owning and renouncing a stake in another company that was opened more than 10 years ago and has never worked. These are really sensational discoveries.
It is also very interesting what clues the “investigative” journalism, which has been solving political issues for a long time, gives in detail, when it presents in detail what the people who are directly or indirectly connected with me or my family members or who have signed property purchase and sale deals have been doing at the time, what property they owned or what positions they held, as if we should ask for CVs before contacting people.
However, let me touch on several circumstances separately.
It is stated in my declarations that I held the position of director of MIBS LLC until 12 May, 2018, and it is stated in my wife’s declarations that she has held the position of director of that LLC since that moment. In 2022, my wife acquired a 10% share of that LLC, which is not prohibited by law, so it is strange to present it again as a “disclosure”. Since the transaction took place in 2022, information about it must be disclosed in the 2022 declaration by 31 May, 2023.
A strange reference was made to the acquisition of property by me and my wife, again with a footnote that either the acquisition of property is an illegal or reprehensible thing or it was done with illegal financial means. All the acquisitions were made with my and my wife’s legitimate incomes, which are declared and therefore it is incomprehensible to present them in such a light.
According to the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, there is no prohibition of the family members of the declaring officials to carry out business activities, and in fact there cannot be, therefore my father’s ownership of the LLC share is not prohibited by law. The law regulates only the cases of conflict of interests, which is not applicable in the given situation and therefore it is incomprehensible to make such a reference to this case of entrepreneurial activity.
I consider other comments on the publication unnecessary.
P.S. I hope the day will come when publishing information and facts taken from open sources and not hidden in any way and presenting them as revelations, connecting unrelated persons and phenomena with superficial judgments, will cease to be considered “investigative” journalism,” Torosyan wrote.
