Narek Mutafyan Was One of My Attackers, Says Styopa Safaryan

Political scientist Styopa Safaryan wrote on his Facebook page: "To the esteemed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the acting head of the Police Arman Sargsyan, and the acting head of the NSS Colonel Eduard Martirosyan:

Esteemed gentlemen, as you are aware, on September 6 this year, around 10:40 PM, as I was returning home from work, I was subjected to a robbery attack by two individuals lying in wait near my apartment entrance. The assailants panicked and snatched my iPhone 8 from my hands before fleeing. Although both of my hands were occupied with shopping bags, I managed to turn on the phone’s screen and capture the faces of both of them. Previously, in dim light, I had also recorded one of them standing sideways, at a distance of less than one meter from the entrance of the building. I then pursued them until the lower building area where they fled.

I immediately reported the crime to the Police of Armenia, where a criminal case was initiated. It has been combined with two other criminal cases opened the same day regarding threats I had received via my personal emails, for which I provided explanations and shared the information I knew. A day after the attack, with the faces I recorded and the available video footage, I conveyed my reasonable suspicions about the identities of the criminals to the Police.

By the following day, we had learned about at least three different recordings of the fleeing assailants from various angles. In subsequent days, my own investigation revealed that the two mentioned criminals did not act alone and had as many as 7-8 accomplices who informed them of my whereabouts, routes, and assisted them very close to the crime scene.

Another private investigation conducted during this time uncovered the entire criminal scheme and the perpetrators in detail. One of the details pertains to the preparation for the crime, according to which the criminal group had found out that in the days leading up to the crime, I had been in my house in the village of Vardenis, Tavush, and had essentially planned to carry it out there. However, their plans changed when I unexpectedly returned to Yerevan, forcing them to execute the crime near my house in Yerevan instead.

On October 29, many of my fellow villagers and friends in the Tavush region registered the presence of a black vehicle near my house and during a funeral, with one of its occupants, Narek Mantashyan, attempting to gather information regarding me and my family while also surveying my home. I do not consider this a coincidence against the backdrop of what seems to be the incomprehensible actions of the Police regarding me. In the last two weeks, my inactivity on social media may have been interpreted as an indication of my presence in Tavush, as it is there that I halt any social-political activity, including on social platforms. This was also the case the week preceding September 6, when I had again been in Tavush, and as I noted, according to the information we learned, the group had planned to commit the crime in Tavush.

Over this past month and more, the Police have only politely told me that they are working diligently and that the investigations are ongoing, but no suspects have been arrested concerning the mentioned crime. More specifically, this is the first time I am publicly stating that Narek Mutafyan, who has been following and threatening Judge Anna Danibekyan, was one of my attackers, whose face I captured and identified. However, he is not accused in relation to the robbery against me.

For now, I will not disclose the name of the second criminal, although I informed the Armenian police about all suspects on the second day after the incident. Clearly, the impunity for one crime has led to the group contemplating another crime, or they are being encouraged towards another offense. It is no coincidence that after the pursuit of Judge Anna Danibekyan, and the detainment of Narek Mutafyan and Sargis Ohanyan, Levon Kocharian, the son of Robert Kocharian, visited their residences, offering support for their actions… To what extent, I will not publicly disclose at this moment.

Now, when it is evident that the notorious group of supporters of Robert Kocharian has reemerged near my home, I must presume that either the Police lack the capability to solve this crime with the captured, clearly identified perpetrators, or there are employees within the Police who are disinterested in solving the crime or have connections with the group...

Whichever explanation applies to this phenomenon, it is obvious that the Police are not in a hurry to uncover a crime that I consider long resolved, with motivations that are political, relating to my and my sister Seda Safaryan’s professional activities, while some members of the criminal group are still at large and are presumably continuing to plan new crimes in various ways. I remain unaware of the condition of my house in Tavush, as I am currently in Yerevan and I do not rule out the possibility that the group may have entered there. If the Police and NSS are unable to solve the crime and avoid conducting a confrontation between me and the detained criminal, arresting and confronting the others, they must ensure the safety of my sister Seda Safaryan, my family, and myself.

With such speed and quality, I regret to state that the law enforcement agencies of Armenia cannot solve more complex crimes. I write these words with great sorrow and regret, expecting explanations regarding this situation, why it is not possible to clarify matters resulting from existing videos and other measures taken that we have already clarified - from the payment mechanisms to the perpetrators and accomplices.

Regrettably, this all also harms the international reputation of the Republic of Armenia, as immediately after the crime, international organizations accredited in Armenia, including the EU delegation and several human rights organizations in Armenia, issued statements expressing hope that the crime would be quickly uncovered and that the perpetrators would be punished.

The irony is that the same Narek Mutafyan, who was detained for pursuing Judge Anna Danibekyan, had previously participated in an international drug trafficking case for which he was relieved of any accountability, although he was sentenced to four years in prison by the decision of the Yerevan City Court.

Finally, I specifically appeal to the esteemed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, hoping that he will demand explanations from the Prosecutor General’s Office and the courts regarding this and other pointed anomalies. As we see, an unresolved crime breeds new crimes, while the criminals continue to commit new offenses under the cover of opposition political activity."