Boris Avagyan Issues Statement from Russian Prison

In mid-December, footage emerged on Armenian social media showing the arrest of Boris Avagyan, former representative of the President of the Artsakh Republic for special assignments, in St. Petersburg. He has been in a correctional facility in Moscow for a month now. We established contact with him through his wife, Elen Avagyan, to learn about the charges against him.

We sent written questions and received a written response. He made a scandalous statement regarding the head of the customs service, Shushanik Nersisyan, and promised to make further revelations soon, exposing "the mask of Nikol and his gang," as reported by Hraparak.am.

“Dear compatriots, I can finally share information with you that will disclose what Nikol is trying to hide from everyone. First, let me clarify the circumstances of my arrest, which the Nikol sycophant media are attempting to present distortedly. My arrest in Russia was carried out based on a request from the Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office and is conditioned by their desire to return me to Armenia at all costs.

Secondly, I will tell you what connection I had with the story of avoiding customs payments. I truly supported a group of individuals so that they could avoid paying customs duties. This group consisted of the head of the Armenian customs service, Shushanik Nersisyan, Davit Ananyan, and their 'roof,' Nikol Pashinyan, along with his relatives, who approached me for help in June 2018, assuring me that the funds gained from these transactions were necessary for financing Armenian military intelligence. Like hundreds of our compatriots, I believed the lies of Pashinyan’s gang at that moment and helped them, but six months later, I realized that they were embezzling those funds, and immediately informed the then director of the NSS, Arthur Vanetsyan, about all these facts.

I was arrested for 72 hours as an accomplice and was released only after the verification of all the evidence I presented. As long as Arthur Vanetsyan was the NSS director, an investigation was underway, during which Shushanik Nersisyan was summoned for questioning. Vanetsyan requested permission from Pashinyan for her detention, but never received approval; instead, he received an order to block my exit from Armenia to prevent me from publishing information that would expose their masks.

When Vanetsyan resigned from the NSS, the criminal case was quickly transferred to the Special Investigation Service of Armenia to maximize the suspension of the investigation into Shushanik Nersisyan and her corrupt schemes. Deputy head of the Special Investigation Service, Davit Kostandyan, has repeatedly stated that I pose a threat to the ruling party in Armenia and that allowing me to leave the country is unacceptable.

Pashinyan's gang has repeatedly exerted pressure on all my relatives and close associates, including my godfather and my driver’s family. Nikol has poisoned the air and water, the land and sunlight of our Armenia with his presence. I am forced to seek political asylum in the Russian Federation, as the totalitarian regime established by Pashinyan in Armenia aims to fabricate criminal cases against anyone who dares to speak the truth about Pashinyan. You are well aware of numerous examples of persecution and fabricated criminal cases.

I promise to start a series of publications that will expose Nikol and his gang. God protect our Fatherland. Boris Avagyan,” the newspaper reports.

Read the full article in today’s issue of the newspaper.