Armenian police chief denies media allegations about a gathering of crime bosses
“Thieves-in-law are human beings in the first place who enjoy constitutional rights and duties as others, however, media allegations about their gathering in Armenia are not true,” Osipyan said, adding that the criminal situation in the country has never before been under as effective surveillance of the police as now.
He stressed that all people related to thieves-in-law and crime bosses had been warned against trying to bully or buy voters before the December 9 early general elections. “There were no reports about the intervention of the criminal world in the elections. Our warning was so strict that many of them, for fear of becoming suspicious, preferred to leave the country during the elections,” said Osipyan.
Valery Osipyan also said he would resign if rumors that crime bosses helped police to detect the whereabouts of Narek Sargsyan, the nephew of ex-president Serzh Sargsyan, who was detained in Prague with fake documents, were true.
“If someone can prove that the police cooperated with crime bosses in searching for Narek Sargsyan I will immediately resign from my high public office,” said Osipyan. He said the police had information about his whereabouts, and detecting him was not difficult.
Narek Sargsyan, put by Armenian law-enforcement authorities on wanted list for a string of crimes, had been located with the assistance of Interpol and detained in Prague earlier this month, Armenian police said earlier. They said Narek Sargsyan carried a fake Guatemalan passport of Franklin Gonzales.
A criminal case was launched against Narek Sargsyan on June 26 on charges of illegal acquisition, sale, storage, transportation and carrying of weapons, ammunition, explosives devices, as well as illegal sale, manufacture of drugs, psychotropic drugs and their precursors. He was placed on the international wanted list on July 24.
Regarding Vahagn Harutyunyan, the former head of a team of investigators, set up to look into the events of March 1-2, 2008, who is accused of concealing facts in the course of the investigation, and is also placed on wanted list, Osipyan said they knew he is in Russia.
"Russia is the largest country in the world and we need time, as was the case with Narek Sargsyan, to track him down," said Osipyan. --0--