Law-enforcement authorities have moved to bring more criminal charges against a nephew of former President Serzh Sargsyan who apparently fled Armenia late last month.
The National Security Service (NSS) issued an arrest warrant for Narek Sargsyan after searching his family’s house in downtown Yerevan and other properties earlier this month. It claimed that he asked one of his friends in June to hide his illegally owned guns, cocaine and other drugs in a safer place. The NSS released a video showing two suitcases purportedly filled with those items.
According to the NSS, Narek flew to Moscow on June 22 together with his bodyguard, Artem Poghosian, who was also wanted by the investigators. Poghosian returned to Yerevan and turned himself in on July 10.
Narek’s younger brother Hayk was arrested and charged with attempted murder and illegal arms possession last week. The two men’s controversial father Aleksandr is a younger brother of former President Sargsyan. He was briefly detained during the NSS raid on his luxury residence.
Armenia -- Narek Sarkisian, a nephew of former President Serzh Sarkisian.
The Armenian police said on Monday that Narek Sargsyan, 31, is now also suspected of kidnapping a man last August with the help of his bodyguard and other individuals. It said that Narek threatened to shoot the 49-year-old man before beating him up and burning “various parts of his body” with a lighter. The man was freed only after promising not to open a nightclub in Yerevan, according to a police statement.
A spokeswoman for Armenia’s Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Tuesday that his office has instructed the NSS to conduct a kidnapping and assault investigation targeting Narek. The NSS did not immediately comment on the new probe ordered by prosecutors.
Also facing prosecution is the ex-president’s second brother, Levon Sargsyan. He and his daughter were charged with “illegal enrichment” after tax inspectors discovered in late June that they hold millions of dollars in undeclared deposits at an Armenian bank.
A Yerevan court issued an arrest warrant for Levon Sargsyan early this month. He has still not been arrested, however, suggesting that he too fled the country.
Serzh Sargsyan, who governed Armenia from 2008-20018, has not yet publicly commented on the highly embarrassing criminal proceedings launched against his close relatives.