From: Ina Iankulova (iiankulova@sorosny.org)
Date: Wed Apr 09 2003 - 12:42:58 EDT
ARMENIAN MURDER SUSPECT PLANS TO RUN FOR PARLIAMENT
Businessman Armen Sargsian, who was arrested on 15 March on suspicion of having commissioned the 28 December killing of Armenian Public Television and Radio Director Tigran Naghdalian (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 March 2003), has been nominated to contest the 25 May parliamentary election in a constituency in his home town of Ararat, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 8 April. He has the backing of the opposition Hanrapetutiun Party, of which his brother, former Prime Minister Aram Sargsian, is chairman. Party activists in Ararat have collected some 1,000 signatures in support of his nomination, far more than the minimum number required. Armen Sargsian, who has been remanded in pretrial detention, denies ordering Naghdalian's murder and claims the charges against him are politically motivated. LF
|
