Serzh Sargsyan Will Be Arrested to Divert Attention from Real Issues, Says Mikael Minasian

NEWS.am spoke with the former ambassador of Armenia to the Holy See, Mikael Minasian. Mr. Minasian, your Facebook post yesterday drew a wide response. However, a brief comment of yours raised questions. You mentioned not just the arrested former president, but presidents in general. Were you hinting at Serzh Sargsyan? Do you think he will also be arrested?

Absolutely. The entire logic behind this government's actions is arrest and accusation. A significant portion of state resources is being spent on accusations and arrests. But the problem is that it no longer works. After the first 5, 10, 15, or 20 arrests, the public’s strong reactions have already weakened; it does not change public sentiments or become part of the agenda. Steps taken tomorrow will only provoke disdain. Don’t doubt it. Especially considering that, in many cases, they create the impression of transactions fraught with corruption risks.

As a result of their own unreasoned actions, the government has created three difficult issues to resolve at this moment: Amulsar, the Istanbul Convention, developments around Artsakh. Added to these is the total absence of work from the executive and legislative branches. Consequently, the wave of public discontent is on the verge of going beyond manageable limits, and the government can see this now.

Knowing this government's simplistic logic well, it is easy to predict that instead of seeking solutions, they will go through their preferred route of arrests to divert public opinion. In their view, this is the diversion route.

The government has one long-held, planned, “golden reserve” megaarrest: the arrest of Serzh Sargsyan. The government's media flutes have long been sounding this. A simple calculation suggests that Serzh Sargsyan will be arrested to divert the public’s attention from real issues for a while.

Moreover, I would say that the government's fear of the possible consequences of the three issues I mentioned is so great that they will likely not be satisfied with just the arrest of Sargsyan but will fabricate something against one or more generals as well. I do not rule out that I might also join those ranks.

A move toward the short-sighted leak of information through foreign media indicates that one of our heroes, Major General Samvel Karapetyan, will also be arrested. It is not difficult to understand why they need this; it is clear that they also have the issue of silencing the military elite.

In your opinion, is Serzh Sargsyan aware of this scenario and its possible developments, and is he ready for it?

He is always prepared for any development of events. Serzh Sargsyan will be arrested, and in doing so, he will provide yet another great service to his people. He will find himself in captivity, and everyone will finally be convinced that if we strip the arrests from the “revolution,” then in the end, nothing remains: people’s condition does not change, investments do not increase, new jobs are not created, life does not become safer or better. On the contrary, it deteriorates. Sargsyan will demonstrate this, so that clarity prevails sooner rather than later.

By arresting him, the government will exhaust both the effectiveness and the possibility of using repression as a tool. It is already a fact that the goal of the regime change was a primitive struggle for power, a comfortable settling in the chairs of power, nothing more. Soon it will be clear to everyone who the thief and the robber is, who is the notorious liar and unproven schemer, and moreover, who is the incompetent failure capable of nothing.

Perhaps it is ironic that this failing government can do nothing without the mythical figures they themselves have created. Even without enmity towards them, this government presents nothing, and without the shadow of their fight against those figures, the government has nothing to say or do. It is absurd, but it is a fact.

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