‘The sole target of this process is me, it’s a message to cooperate with Nikol and step out of the game’: M. Minasian

The former ambassador of Armenia to the Vatican, Mikael Minasian, made a post on his Facebook page discussing the recent actions of the National Security Service regarding the ‘fake case’. Below is his statement:

“I always try to see meaning in everything, but until recently, I could not understand why divine providence has left Nikol in power. Isn't this against all earthly and heavenly rules? Today I understood: Nikol is our opportunity for rebirth, a unique way to deeply understand our national illness and state pathology. By remaining in power, Nikol acts like a litmus paper showing who the enemies of our people and the internal dismantlers of the state are. At the top of that list is the very structure created to protect the country, but which is dismantling the state from within—that is the National Security Service (NSS).

After the seizure of power, the NSS consistently became Nikol’s lackey and ‘pocket dog’. All other departments try to retain a shred of dignity. Meanwhile, the NSS is busy executing disgraceful orders: helping Nikol to extort money from Lfik, wiretapping Naira Zohrabyan, ensuring the safety and whims of Nikol’s family, catching devils, checking gas receipts... In a word, it does everything except its mission. And now, having mobilized its entire agent network, it proudly announces a successful operation to identify and arrest a fake.

During all that time, the same fake continues to write with equal pride and persistence. And this is happening at a time when Armenia is literally being destroyed, and the Armenian people are being bled dry. The head of the NSS is betraying Armenia in Moscow with Azerbaijanis, betraying Nikol with the Russians, and trying to solve his personal issues with wealthy Armenians from Russia.

The biggest absurdity and shock of this fake story? They cannot find grounds for accusations or even approximate evidence. There is literally nothing captured on all types of technical devices confiscated from everyone. Moreover, the farce they presented is sufficient grounds to initiate a criminal case against the empty heads sitting in the NSS, who were busy wiretapping opposition figures during the days of war. And even that was botched up. Can you imagine, during those fateful days when Armenia and Artsakh were fighting a life-and-death battle, when the question of whether to keep Shushi in existence was on the line, the national security service of Armenia was preoccupied with wiretapping and monitoring the people serving Armenia?

Last night, the chairman of the Yerevan court of general jurisdiction, Arthur Mkrtchyan, whose being an NSS agent is as well-known a ‘secret’ as Kyaramyan’s complicated lineage, ordered Vahagn Melikyan—another judge-NSS agent—via phone while shouting at him. Do you know why? Because Vahagn Melikyan was filmed two years ago using drugs, after which the NSS recruited him and turned him into a judge-puppet.

Yesterday, his boss, the experienced NSS agent Arthur Mkrtchyan, was ordering him to arrest a father of three children, an innocent man. To detain him without any evidence solely because someone called Abazyan’s wife immoral. I certainly do not agree that Abazyan’s wife is such a person. His wife even deserves sympathy because we know what kind of abomination her husband is.

In connection with this incident, I want to talk about judge-agents and state that, unfortunately, repeating a tired thesis: we need lustration. Mandatory. But more than that, we do not need such an NSS. This NSS, in its current form and staff, should be closed down as a hostile structure, which essentially does not care who is sitting in power, who is the commander, and even which country they serve.

What I said certainly does not apply to everyone, but after lustration and criminal cases, it should become clear who should remain to serve Armenia in the new structure.

This kind of spineless, unprincipled, and nation-destroying structure has never existed before. Never has any state institution been so dangerous in its servility. And never have so many officers been complicit in so many crimes at once. For that reason, many will sit. The father of underage children, Vahagn Melikyan, who passed judgment against the law, will end up in prison. Arthur Mkrtchyan is awaiting prison for intervening in the trials. Today’s head of the NSS will end up in jail for state betrayal and political persecution. Many will not escape prison, regardless of which side of the barricade they are on today. Crime knows no expiration. Many of the NSS agents will sit because they are not NSS officers. They are Nikol’s mindless agents and state traitors. And the investigation will clarify who was a bribe-taker, who was spineless, or merely a performer of abominations.

I understand that the only target of this entire process is me. This is a message to cooperate with Nikol and step out of the game. And since I am not afraid myself, I must be afraid for my friends. But these people really do not know me well. I will come after all of you and you will each be held accountable—for yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”