Armenia Releases Ex-Foreign Minister from Prison

After four months in custody, former Armenian Foreign Minister Alexander Arzumanian has been released from prison, though local observers are divided over what motivated the decision. Supporters have charged that political reasons drove the arrest of Arzumanian, an outspoken opposition activist, in the run-up to Armenia's May parliamentary elections. Officials have denied the charge.

The September 7 release came as a surprise to supporters and political observers alike. Just one week before, a Yerevan court had approved a petition to extend Arzumanian's imprisonment until early November. The same court was responsible for releasing him as well.

Arzumanian, who served as foreign minister under former President Levon Ter-Petrossian from 1996-1998, is head of the Civil Disobedience Movement non-governmental organization, which has called on Armenians not to take part in elections in a bid to remove President Robert Kocharian's administration from power. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive].

In an interview with EurasiaNet after his release, Arzumanian, who still faces charges of money laundering, called his sudden release from jail "a puzzle."

"If a few days ago they considered that I could obstruct the preliminary investigation, what happened within those seven days that I cannot obstruct it now? It is clear that the case is political and not criminal, and both the arrest and the release are political orders," Arzumanian said.

Under the terms stipulated for his release, Arzumanian has been barred from leaving Armenia.

Official comments in response to the decision have been few. General Prosecutor Aghvan Hovsepian told Armenian reporters on September 8 that given the charges brought against the former foreign minister, "I no longer found it advisable to keep Arzumanian in custody."

An initial statement from the National Security Service following Arzumanian's May 7 arrest stated that the ex-foreign minister had received "dirty money" from Moscow-based businessman Levon Markos, who is wanted by the police for forgery. The NSS suggested that the transfer had been made to foster unrest before Armenia's May parliamentary elections. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

During investigators' preliminary investigation, however, it was established that the money had been transferred to Arzumanian not by Markos, but by Russian businessman Sashik Aghazarian, a friend and former university classmate of Arzumanian.

General Prosecutor Hovsepian has stated that Armenian officials are still waiting for information from Russian law enforcement agencies concerning the money transfer. The process could take a while, Hovsepian added.

Meanwhile, Arzumanian's supporters are drawing their own conclusions. "From the very beginning the NSS did not have any grounds, only suspicions," commented Arzumanian's lawyer, Hovik Arsenian. "In fact, there is no presumption of innocence in this country. Until it is established that the person who sent the money got it in an illegal, criminal way, there can be no criminal act committed by anyone, in particular by Arzumanian," Arsenian said.

Armenia Helsinki Committee Chairman Avetik Ishkhanian believes that the public outcry surrounding the case helped prompt the opposition activist's release. "His arrest was a step to intimidate the opposition, and his release was simply a forced step," commented Ishkhanian. "They tried to fabricate a case, then they understood they could not do that." Ishkhanian contends that officials will leave the case "in uncertainty for years."

While attention on the case within Armenia has been sharper than abroad, some opposition members contend that "outside pressure" also motivated the decision.

Galust Sahakian, a parliamentarian from the governing Republican Party of Armenia, dismissed the charges against the government. "[I]f they want to keep Arzumanian in prison, they can do that easily," he said in reference to state prosecutors.

Meanwhile, Arzumanian says that he has no plans to stop his political work and will also seek compensation in a local court. A petition was filed in early June with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to have Arzumanian's case termed "political prosecution," the Noyan Tapan news agency reported. "I will consider myself a person facing political persecution until the case is closed," Arzumanian said.