Lori Governor Sends Group to Assault Citizen Over Facebook Post

According to the newspaper 'Zhoghovurd', Aram Khachatryan, a member of the 'Civil Contract' party and governor of Lori, has sent a group of individuals to assault a citizen, threatening with a weapon.

In recent days, government officials have been reminiscent of the bodyguards and violence of the past, attempting to stir up bad memories in society in order to prolong their power. However, it turns out that some officials in post-revolutionary Armenia continue to embrace rejected practices, beating citizens in groups while remaining unpunished.

The newspaper has obtained exclusive information indicating that on March 6, 2022, Governor Aram Khachatryan sent his relative Karen Zuloyan, driver Hayk, and assistant Erik Kostanyan, among others, to beat Vanadzor resident and Facebook blogger David Sargsyan. The reason for this was Sargsyan's Facebook post, in which he insulted the governor and supported Mamikon Aslanyan, who is currently in custody.

Sargsyan specifically wrote: 'Dear people, please remember that a position is not a cucumber; it is a root… one day it is in your hands, one day I will kick yours… And that Andrey Ghukasyan is a witness; I cause pain, very seriously and fateful: I am kilometers away from you.'

It is worth noting that Mamikon Aslanyan is in custody solely for winning the local elections in the enlarged community of Vanadzor, and the Civil Contract party does not wish to work with him.

'Zhoghovurd' has learned that a complaint has been addressed to the Armenian Prosecutor General regarding the assault, in which citizen David Sargsyan described: 'On March 6, 2022, at approximately 12:30 PM, Karen Zuloyan, Erik, and Hayk entered the store. Karen Zuloyan demanded that I not move, otherwise he would shoot, and held an object resembling a weapon at me. After 3-4 minutes of negotiations, he lowered the weapon. Erik and Hayk were hitting various parts of my body, and Karen was kicking like an untrained fighter, after which came Karen's conversation about how I opened a 'fake' page and insulted everyone.'

He detailed how they took his computer and left, after which they called him to another meeting and assaulted him again. Incidentally, during the first incident, David Sargsyan had already filed a report with the police in Taron about the crime.

The Prosecutor's Office informed the newspaper that a criminal case has been initiated based on Article 118 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, and the investigation is ongoing at the Lori Regional Investigation Department. D. Sargsyan has been recognized as a victim. Currently, the case has been forwarded to the regional prosecutor's office, where instructions will be issued for specific actions to be taken by the investigation body.

Approximately two months have passed since this incident, yet Lori Governor Aram Khachatryan and his group continue to hold office and receive support from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

'Zhoghovurd' also spoke with Governor Aram Khachatryan, who stated: 'There has been no such incident; I do not even know such a person.'

When we asked David Sargsyan about the incident, he abruptly refused to speak, stating that he had nothing to say on that topic, and hung up the phone. We hope that law enforcement will hurry to investigate this case and punish the members of the gang and their leader, as it is evident that citizen David Sargsyan's life continues to be in danger, and he clearly avoided speaking about the incident. Furthermore, 'Zhoghovurd' possesses the entire account of the incident addressed to law enforcement from David Sargsyan, detailing who did what.