What Process Has Started Against the Former Mayor of Vurtsadzor

The acting head of the Vedi community in the Ararat region, Garik Sargsyan, has appointed administrative leaders in the villages included in the community ahead of the snap elections scheduled for March 27. With these appointments, Sargsyan has essentially dismissed mayors who defeated him in the proportional municipal elections held on December 5.

The former administrative head of Vurtsadzor, Rafik Andreasyan, stated that he considers the decision illegal. According to him, he is a legally elected mayor and Sargsyan, as the temporary acting mayor, does not have the authority to dismiss him. “Garik Sargsyan’s decision has no legal basis. My powers expire in 2023, and the law on local self-government states that the mayor’s powers can only be terminated after the election of a new head. Since no mayor has been elected, our powers are still in force. Only the community head has the authority to make dismissals and appointments; the temporary acting head does not have that right,” Andreasyan noted.

Furthermore, he indicated that he would go to the mayor's office and continue his work, regardless of the presence of a newly appointed temporary head of Vurtsadzor.

After this dismissal and the actions of the former mayor, tensions rose in the Ararat region. The Investigative Committee announced that the son of the former mayor of Vurtsadzor had been arrested. According to the statement from the Committee, he was detained on suspicion of using violence against police officers. A weapon and ammunition were found in his vehicle.

Following this announcement, Rafik Andreasyan claimed that his son’s arrest is a continuation of political persecution against him. The former mayor recounted that he was taken to the police station without notification, shackled, and did not provide an explanation while there, after which he was released. “I was in a police car, and when my son was leaving, I thought, 'Is my son going to kill me?' In front of my eyes, they brutally beat two young men, my son and his friend; I have never seen such a thing in my life. Even when our people took Azerbaijanis captive, they treated them better than our youths. It was an extreme brutality, they cursed mothers, and they beat them so badly that both of them had broken noses and numerous bruises on their bodies. There is even X-ray evidence for all of this. My son did not even resist,” he stated.

Today, the investigative committee announced that the former mayor's son has been detained. It was mentioned that after the political leadership, they continue to pressure the victorious candidates through law enforcement bodies or by detaining their relatives and bringing them to investigative bodies. In this case, they have reached as far as the family and arrested the former mayor's son. It seems that Garik Sargsyan, who acquired the nickname 'Crocodile' during his tenure, is not reconciling with defeat and has initiated processes through law enforcement.

Notably, the former community head claims that his son was brutally beaten, whereas the preliminary investigation body asserts that the former mayor's son drove his vehicle onto a police car. It is worth reminding that this is not the first incident involving Garik Sargsyan in the region, yet under the leadership of Pashinyan, law enforcement agencies ignore them and do not take action. Moreover, when Garik Sargsyan was the regional governor, an altercation occurred between him, his teammates, and a hairdresser who had refused to 'smooth things out,' which had also been confirmed by the hairdresser's father. The question of his dismissal was discussed among various social groups, yet he returned to work after vacation and on the same day awarded himself a bonus of 1 million drams.