Who is the Patron of the New Director of the NSS?

“Jrahoyd” newspaper writes that Andranik Simonyan, the recently appointed director of the National Security Service (NSS), worked in the police system before being appointed as a judge in the Lori region. Despite being only 31 years old, he has already held various positions following the example of Argishti Kyaramyan.

From 2009 to 2012, he served in the Legal Expertise Department of the Legal Division of the Police of the Republic of Armenia as an inspector, then as a senior inspector, and also as an operational officer. He then spent four years as a prosecutor in the Prosecutor's Office of the Central and Norq-Marash administrative districts of Yerevan. On June 22, 2020, he was appointed as a judge of the first instance general jurisdiction court of Lori province in Armenia.

According to his official biography, Andranik Simonyan studied at the Police Academy of Armenia and the Academy of Management, obtaining a master's degree in law. However, interestingly, according to Article 17 of the law on the Investigative Committee, “Only citizens of the Republic of Armenia who permanently reside in the Republic of Armenia and have higher legal education at the bachelor’s, master’s level, or as a qualified specialist can serve in the Investigative Committee.”

It should be noted that it was during his appointment as the Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee that he was granted the opportunity to take up a position in the NSS. Nevertheless, it is a fact that Andranik Simonyan has reached these career heights with the help of others. His current patron is Hakob Simidyan, the secretary of the “My Step” faction.

For more details, refer to today’s issue of the newspaper.