Sukiasian was among several opposition figures who went into hiding in March 2008 to avoid prosecution for their role in post-election demonstrations in Yerevan that were suppressed by the authorities. Like three other members of Armenia’s parliament arrested in the government crackdown, he was charged with plotting to “usurp the state authority” and organizing “mass riots” that left ten people dead. State prosecutors dropped the coup charges against them in April this year.
An amnesty bill approved by the National Assembly on June 19 gave Sukiasian and other fugitive oppositionists until July 31 to turn themselves in and face trial. They will be set free if found guilty and sentenced to up to five years in prison. One of those oppositionists, Nikol Pashinian, surrendered to the police last week.
“I have no problem with turning myself in because I did not commit any crimes to begin with,” Sukiasian said in a statement e-mailed to RFE/RL and other media. “I am ready to fight for the restoration of my and my people’s rights and freedoms, and am convinced that justice will prevail in the end,” he added.
Citing the recent softening of the criminal case against him, Sukiasian claimed that prosecutors now need a fresh National Assembly permission for keep him in pre-trial detention. “That means I have the right to freely walk in my city and no policeman can restrict my freedom in any way,” he said.
The tycoon, who is believed to have fled the country, admitted at the same that the authorities would most likely arrest him and secure a guilty verdict from a local court. “I don’t care much about all this,” he said.
One of Armenia’s wealthiest men, Sukiasian got in trouble with the authorities in late 2007 after publicly voicing support for former President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s bid to return to power. Many of his businesses were raided by tax authorities and fined for alleged tax evasion. One of them, the Bjni mineral water company, was effectively confiscated by the government late last year.
Fugitive MP Hints At Surrender
Khachatur Sukiasian, a fugitive businessman and opposition parliamentarian, hinted on Monday that he might soon stop hiding and surrender to Armenian law-enforcement authorities to face prosecution on what he considers “false and fabricated” charges.