Andranik Kocharyan 'Set Up' Boxers Returning Victorious from Mexico

The newspaper 'Hraparak' reports: 'There exists a Pan-Armenian Boxing and Professional Sports Federation in Armenia, whose trainees—11 athletes—recently traveled to Mexico to participate in an international boxing competition that featured professional boxing showcase matches. Our athletes achieved significant successes there and returned to Armenia victorious. However, on their way back to Yerevan, they encountered the malice of one of the parliamentary representatives from the ruling party and found themselves at the police station.

This is what happened on the flight from Frankfurt to Yerevan, on which the Armenian athletes were traveling. Andranik Kocharyan, a parliament member of the ruling party, was also on the plane. He had taken a business trip from May 26 to 31 to attend the NATO Parliamentary Assembly's spring session in Vilnius. Although the athletes were tired, they were in high spirits, likely due to their victorious return to their homeland, and were somewhat active and lively on the plane, chatting loudly and celebrating their success. This behavior displeased the parliament member, who remained silent on the aircraft but, upon reaching Zvartnots airport, called the police before even disembarking, effectively 'setting up' the Armenian athletes.

Specifically, he expressed complaints about their behavior and, to justify his call to the police, cast doubt by alleging that 'they might have committed theft on the plane'. Consequently, instead of exiting into the airport's waiting area, the athletes were subjected to detention just as they disembarked. The police officers from the Zvartnots department did not allow them to exit the waiting area, approached them, and took three of them into custody using Kocharyan’s influence.

The police's public relations department confirmed the incident, stating: 'On June 1, an incident occurred on the airplane, and based on a citizen's call, three individuals were taken to the Zvartnots police station. They provided explanations and were subsequently released.'

Further details, including who the concerned citizen was, what the call was about, and why no criminal case was initiated if the alert was false, were not disclosed by the police. We spoke with Garnik Harutyunyan, the president of the Pan-Armenian Boxing and Professional Sports Federation. He confirmed our information that three of their athletes were taken from the Frankfurt-Yerevan flight on June 1 and later released. However, he admitted he did not know the reason for this, stating it remains unclear to them what the athletes did to warrant police involvement.

‘As of today, we are unaware of the reason, who made the call, and on what grounds. Immediately after getting off the plane, they were invited in, asked if there had been any incident, and after receiving a negative response, they were released,’ said Harutyunyan.

When we sought clarification about any incidents on the aircraft, Harutyunyan reiterated, ‘Generally, apart from raising the Armenian flag, we don't engage in anything else in terms of representing our country.’ When questioned if they recognized any parliament member on the flight, Harutyunyan first replied that he didn't know whether parliament members fly economy class or not, given that, according to him, 'today’s parliament members can travel in any way they see fit'. He later added that it was unlikely any of their athletes would recognize any MPs. 'I personally do not know any, as much as you think you do,’ he said.

The federation president also mentioned the names of the athletes taken by the police: Ruben and Rudolf Garboyan, brothers, and Tigran Melikonyan. All three of them are 19 years old and completed all their fights ahead of schedule, naturally winning. According to the federation president, it is also perplexing for them why these specific three were chosen by the police; he believes the individual who alerted the authorities pointed them out.

'They were, of course, in good spirits but looked quite tired and distressed. I personally asked them what the issue was, and they said they were unaware, and they were completely taken aback about what it was all about. Absolutely no one was aware of anything, and to this day, they cannot understand what this is about. They were just stopped, told to come because someone had said something bad about them, and then no clarifications were given,' Harutyunyan said.

Thus, the notorious ruling party parliament member, who frequently attracts media attention, particularly due to his confrontations with journalists and various other negative outbursts, has once again decided to 'test his strength' against these young boxers, turning them over to the police. Essentially, this constitutes false accusations, as it is evident that the boys did not engage in any unlawful behavior, and the report made to the chairman of the National Assembly's defense committee was fabricated, with the suspicion being maliciously motivated. If an opposition MP had done something similar, they would have long been arrested and charged with false denunciation. But for the ruling party members, and especially Kocharyan, anything is permissible and excusable.'