"We Requested a Blood Sample from the Parliament, They Didn’t Provide It" – Kyaramyans on Investigators and Drug Case

The issue of drug use or non-use falls within personal jurisdiction, and such incidents can occur in any department. This was stated today by the head of the RA Investigative Committee, Arghishti Kyaramyan, during a joint meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committees on Legal and State Affairs and Financial and Budgetary Affairs, in response to MP Arpi Davoyan from the 'Civil Contract' faction.

The MP asked the head of the Committee to clarify the scandalous case of drug trafficking involving investigators from Arabkir, calling it a disgrace.

"For example, we had a case where we requested a blood sample from the National Assembly, and they didn’t provide it. I believe such characterizations are premature. However, I share your concerns. The senior management of the Committee has been aware of this case, and we have been working together with the NSS. I consider this an accomplishment for the Committee as our goal is to proceed with the purification of the systems while respecting the presumption of innocence," said Kyaramyan.

He added that although he was straying from the topic, the head of the investigative unit from the relevant district and two deputies had submitted their resignations. Earlier, it was reported that, following Kyaramyan's orders, Garik Matevosyan, head of the Arabkir department of the RA Investigative Committee, and his deputies Artak Mkrtchyan and Armen Muradyan had been dismissed from their positions.

Kyaramyan also presented data proving that the Committee is “not afraid” to conduct investigations within its own ranks, as the objective remains one: to clean the system. According to him, during 2022, five reports were prepared regarding the committee's employees and sent to the NSS and the Anti-Corruption Committee.

“We had a case where the initiator of operational intelligence activities was the Committee itself, and that later yielded results. As a result, a case of approximately $75,000 in bribery was uncovered,” mentioned Kyaramyan. This year, there have already been seven cases where reports concerning committee employees were compiled and sent to the NSS and the Anti-Corruption Committee.

It should be noted that, according to information circulated in the media, the NSS raided the Arabkir investigative department of the RA Investigative Committee on the night of May 31, as it had operational information that investigators from the Arabkir department were engaged in the sale of drugs identified within the framework of criminal proceedings.

On June 1, it became known that three investigators were detained in connection with this case. According to reports, two were imprisoned, while one was placed under house arrest.