2 more witnesses were questioned in the Anti-Corruption Court on 2 November in the case of former Head of Police Vladimir Gasparyan, his former deputy Levon Yeranosyan, Head of the Internal Audit Department of the Police Vardan Tunyan, and Commander of Police Unit Gurgen Grigoryan.
They testified regarding one of the episodes, which refers to Military Police servicemen who did not show up for duty.
Servicemen of the N military unit Khachik Badeyan (since 2001), Nelson Saroyan (since 2004), Arman Movsisyan (since 2009) being assigned to the position of military policeman of the Military Police of the Ministry of Defense, having the rank of non-commissioned officer, have not appeared for military service since the day of their appointment. Instead, they performed work that did not issue from the status of a soldier. Nelson Saroyan worked as the driver of Lyova Sargsyan, the brother of the 3rd President of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan. Khachik Badeyan and Arman Movsisyan were Alexander Sargsyan’s bodyguards.
According to Iravaban.net, Aram Baghdasaryan was the first to be questioned in the court. He mentioned that he knew Vladimir Gasparyan. Baghdasaryan stated that during his service in the Military Police, he was interrogated by the Investigative Committee in 2018-2019 in connection with 1 serviceman who was assigned but did not report for duty.
Witness Aram Baghdasaryan held various positions in the Special Purpose Battalion. “After moving from Karabakh, in the beginning I was told that he was on a business trip by the order. I have not seen or communicated with that person. I only remember that I was the Chief of Staff in Military Police, that person came to me to resign from the service, I sent him to the Head of the Personnel Department. There was no other contact with that person.”
The witness said that he had told his superior that there were absent servicemen. “At that time, I understood that it was on a higher order, I was not even interested in that direction. When the Chief of Police told me that he was aware of the fact and that there was an order, I did not do any other questioning.”
There were contradictions in the testimony of the witness, at the investigator, and currently in court. His preliminary testimony was published in court. Aram Baghdasaryan said that at that time his memory was fresher, he remembered details. The judge said, “In the preliminary testimony, you mentioned that you reported to the Head of the Military Police, Samvel Ghukasyan, and he, in turn, said: ‘We are aware, you have nothing to do with them.’ This is an essential circumstance.”
The witness confirmed: that something like that happened, he remembered it in the sitting hall. The next Head of the Military Police, Artur Baghdasaryan, was also informed about the absences. “He said that they were not special workers, and that they were called through the Chief of the Personnel. They came, wrote a report and left. We told them to come to the service, they came and wrote a report.”
According to the witness, he learned later that they were ensuring security of a businessman.
– You say that he was the Chief of Security Service of some businessman. We have no shortage of businessmen in the RA. We are rich in this issue. Who was that happy businessman, – the judge said.
– Dear Judge, I was not interested, I learned that our employee did not serve in the special operative service, I am not interested in whose safety he ensured, – the witness answered.
– Samvel Ghukasyan told you that they were carrying out a special operative service. Years later, you learned that they did not work in the special operative service. As a soldier, were you disappointed by Samvel Ghukasyan’s behavior or not?
– I didn’t think about that.
– It turns out that Samvel Ghukasyan lied, saying that they were conducting a special operative service. They were ensuring security of a businessman, and the head of the department presented it under the guise of sauce of a special “operational service“. How did you feel as an officer?
– I did not think in that direction.
Armen Avanesyan was interrogated the second. He mentioned that among the persons present in the meeting hall he knows only Vladimir Gasparyan. From 1992 to 2004, Avanesyan served in the Military Police as the Commander of the Special Purpose Platoon. According to the witness, he did not know the 3 missing servicemen.
Public prosecutor Tigran Yenokyan mentioned that Khachik Badeyan was from Avanesyan’s platoon.
“People who were assigned to different units were involved in our platoons. I have not seen him, I do not know him. Those persons were removed from the employment list, it was mentioned that they were sent on business trip. It was a common option that they were appointed to the posts of a special purpose company or battalion, but served in another battalion,” the witness said.
The presiding judge Vardges Sargsyan, turning to the witness, asked: whether the latter have responsibilities related to being aware of the serviceman and returning him to the place of service or not. Avanesyan mentioned that he had no such duty. The judge asked the witness to state by which legal act his rights and duties were defined. Avanesyan replied, “By regulations”.
The judge continued: “Let’s try to talk about your responsibilities as a commander of a platoon. According to the regulations, the platoon commander must know the name, surname, nationality, length of service, position, profession, family status of each soldier of the platoon. To present the soldiers, sergeants to the next military rank, to organize the placement of the personnel, the order of the company, the military discipline. Organize the training of the superior staff of the day appointed from the platoon, monitor the performance of their service. Did you fulfill your duties regarding Khachik Badeyan or not?”
– No.
– Why didn’t you do it?
– Because I have neither seen nor knew him.
– Should it remain like this? You were a military policeman, didn’t you need to try to return him to the service, try to find out where that person is?
– It was not within our powers.
– Whose powers does it come under?
– We received the order that we have such persons assigned in the staff list, and this person is on an assignment. We were not interested in the rest.
According to Avanesyan, he received that order from the Commander of the Battalion or the Chief of Staff. He also mentioned that they did not ask where the serviceman was sent. Vardges Sargsyan asked: “Were there any cases when people were sent on business for several years and did not show up for duty? The witness gave a positive answer, but refused to provide names.
Armen Avanesyan also mentioned that he never include Badeyan in the duty, and the latter did not show up for the alarms. According to the witness, he did not ask his superiors questions about the deployed servicemen.
– Was there a soldier in your platoon for 10 days, 1 month, 20 days? Who then came, and you enlisted him in the service.
– No.
– Or a soldier who went on a business trip and did not come back?
– Yes.
Further the witness mentioned the names of his superiors in turn, one of whom was Vova Hakobyan. The questioning was coming to an end and the judge responded: “I knew that there was a person in the Military Police with that name.”
After questioning 2 witnesses, Vladimir Gasparyan made a statement in court. He mentioned that in 1997 there was no staff list in the Military Police. There were people who were assigned to one position but were doing other work. “There was no talk about the schedule. It was a tragic situation. However there is a system now, we created that system. We started by putting glass instead of “cellophane”.
Yevgenya Hambardzumyan
