The family of Arbak Khachatryan against state terror — Criminal case No. 17846122

Arbak Khachatryan’s name is well known in political circles in various countries, including Spain, Russia, America, and France. His invaluable contribution to victory in the first Karabakh war, his services to Karabakh and other countries in many different episodes of history, could be listed at length. Numerous articles and participants’ recollections attest to this. In a published interview, a senior foreign official even expressed surprise that the Armenian people still did not know Arbak Khachatryan’s name, while instead worshipping their bankers, businessmen, and petrol sellers as gods.

One of Armenia’s leaders, referring to Khachatryan’s extraordinary services in the first war, said that a golden bust of this man should be erected in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Despite all his services to his homeland, Armenians have betrayed him more than once, and they are not the only ones. He was held four times in KGB basements, and how many threats to his personal safety he encountered along his life’s path… But we will remain silent about them, because those episodes have not been officially recorded.

Moscow media reported only one incident, in 1992, when a bathhouse on Moscow’s Janis Rainis Street was blown up.

At that time Arbak Khachatryan was an adviser to the president of the Republic of Armenia and actively helped Armenia. His ideas and actions, however, clearly did not fit the plans of Armenia’s first president or those of the second and third former presidents, who then occupied key government posts. For the past 30 years they consistently implemented a plan to surrender Karabakh and dismantle Armenia—we see the results of their subversive activity today—and patriots plainly stood in their way.

Pressure on Arbak Khachatryan’s family began; even the presence of three underage children was disregarded. Arbak’s wife, Elena Khachatryan, an ethnic Russian, withstood every blow with dignity, protecting her children and defending her husband’s interests despite the dozens of gunmen stationed on the grounds of the family’s private home for months. Unfortunately, at one point his mother gave up: after a staged, false telephone call announcing her son’s death, she voluntarily ended her life by taking poison.

These are real and flagrant human-rights violations, which will be presented in detail to the court and, if necessary, to international bodies.

Mr. Khachatryan commands considerable respect, and his analytical mind is valued among the political elites of many countries. He dislikes publicity and always prefers to remain in the background. Today, however, given our deplorable circumstances, he has once again stood alongside his people, despite all opposing forces. The 30 years of persecution of his family have now resulted in a criminal case opened in the Republic of Armenia against the state system and the state lawlessness committed in Armenia about 28 years ago.

The state must unquestionably compensate Arbak Khachatryan’s family for the property unlawfully taken from them, whose value today is approximately 11 million dollars. Incidentally, this property was brought to save and develop an Armenia that was hungry, cold, under blockade, and did not even have a state account. In the end, it was plundered by key state figures and their entourages rather than used for the benefit of the people and the state.

During a meeting of Armenian mothers and journalists with the prosecutor, he explained that a criminal case had been opened, that it was being investigated, and that witnesses and those responsible were being sought… The one thing the prosecutor failed to understand was that it does not matter whether those implicated are former or current presidents, defence ministers, or investigators: the state itself must compensate for this damage, and only then determine whether this is a crime against the state or a criminal offence.

Today we can already see the property and billion-scale assets of former “statesmen—S. Sargsyan and R. Kocharyan” and their cohort being seized. One wonders whether the state will have enough funds to return what was once stolen and compensate for moral damage. This was not simply robbery, but an attempt to destroy a family through the state system. It was precisely following R. Kocharyan’s and S. Sargsyan’s denunciation to the Russian side that Arbak Khachatryan was detained and held in Lefortovo for almost three years.

After the presidential “pair’s” puzzle, the head of Armenia’s special service, Carlos, asked his Russian counterpart to isolate A. Khachatryan because “if he remains at liberty, the friendship between Armenia and Russia will be put at risk.” Imagine what else must have been invented and written for Russia’s Supreme Court to accept the complaints but refuse nine times to consider them. Not to mention that when Arbak Khachatryan sent money from Moscow to Armenia in 2003 at Armenian politicians’ request, complaints and denunciations against Mr.

Khachatryan came from Armenia itself—for example, that he had allegedly supplied weapons to Osama bin Laden and Shamil Basayev… All this was done with a single aim: to neutralize Arbak Khachatryan… What benefits will we gain from uncovering and publicizing this case?

First, the triumph of the rule-of-law principle. Exposing the criminal chain of Armenian and Russian officials who persecuted A. Khachatryan’s family will reveal their dirty methods. This will make it possible to restore justice in this instance and, we hope, teach us to learn from the past so that similar attacks by the state system on the country’s worthy citizens and families can be avoided in the future.

Second, A. Khachatryan’s family has already stated that the money received will be directed toward programmes to restore family values.

The facts revealed during this court case, like A. Khachatryan’s entire life, clearly demonstrate his devotion to his homeland, family values, and universal human values. In his many articles he warned of wars in Syria, Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ukraine long before they began, proposed steps to prevent them, and spoke of the approaching international financial crisis, a dollar default, and so on. All articles, evidence, and documents concerning the court case “The state against the Khachatryan family and against the development of its own country and people” are in the case file, and copies will be provided to all interested parties.

P.S. European journalists have already asked their colleagues in Yerevan to help obtain additional information concerning the proceedings in criminal case No. 17846122.