During the War, That Prosecutor's Office Was in the Basements: Shushi Mayor on Criminal Case Against Him

“The criminal case opened against me is simply ridiculous,” said Shushi Mayor Artsvik Sargsyan in an interview with NEWS.am.

It is noted that the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Artsakh has initiated a criminal case against the mayor of Shushi, Artsvik Sargsyan, on charges of abuse of official powers for including the information of 7 citizens with clearly false details in the list of beneficiaries of state support.

Sargsyan explained that thousands of citizens reach out to him, sometimes misled into claiming they were residents of Shushi in order to become beneficiaries. “We have a neighbor who hasn’t lived in Shushi for 10 years. In 2019, he sold his house, and someone else was living there. After the war, he came to me and said, ‘Recognize me and my brother as beneficiaries,’ while his brother had fled during this war. I told them that the procedure does not work that way; I cannot act on those claims because beneficiaries are those citizens who have at least lived in Shushi for the last three months. This individual got upset and filed a false report against me. He even claimed that I sold my car in Armenia, stating that my car has supposedly been under the control of the enemy. I have clarified that my car is still in Artsakh,” he said.

The mayor emphasized that he does not even know who those 7 citizens are. “People come for 300,000 drams, swear by their graves that they lived in Shushi. We investigate and inquire about them, and only then do we recognize them as beneficiaries. I don’t even know who those 7 people are. The Ministry of Infrastructure even says that there has not been a cleaner case like this in Shushi,” he added. “I have formed a commission, held meetings, called school principals and kindergarten teachers for discussions.”

Sargsyan stated that he has not been summoned for interrogation. “Such announcements are made without hearing my position. They are tarnishing my clean case with that statement. The prosecutor’s office does not mention that Artsvik Sargsyan stood alone against the Azerbaijanis to prevent them from entering Shushi. During the war, that prosecutor’s office was in the basements. They should apologize to me; they are playing with my honor,” he stressed.

According to the Shushi mayor, the criminal case has also been initiated due to his political positions. “I have been told that I speak too much about this… I ask, am I saying something bad? Am I wrong? I have left my home, lost a brother, and even have no place to stay. I will not stoop to anyone for a lie,” he concluded.