Public Criminal Charges Filed Against Surik Khachatryan's Son

Public criminal charges have been filed against Tigran Khachatryan, son of the former governor of Syunik, Surik Khachatryan (Liska), and a request for his detention has been submitted. The Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia issued a statement regarding this matter.

According to the statement: “As a result of necessary measures taken during the criminal proceedings initiated by the Syunik Regional Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia, a series of circumstances surrounding a recent incident of hooliganism involving T. Khachatryan using a weapon in Goris city have been established.”

On June 19, 2023, at 21:40, a report was received from “Goris Medical Center” LLC about a Goris resident being admitted with an injury to the surface area of the right wrist. To verify the received information, urgent measures were undertaken, resulting in the establishment of a number of circumstances surrounding the case, including the crime scene, motives, and the identity of the person who apparently committed the crime.

Regarding the incident, preliminary investigations have revealed facts related to violations under Articles 335, Part 1; 297, Part 3; and 171, Part 2, Clause 7 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia. Tigran Khachatryan had reached an agreement regarding the purchase of car tires with a 46-year-old local resident engaged in tire sales. The nephew of the seller contacted Tigran Khachatryan to provide the tires, and due to the way of addressing the matter, a verbal confrontation arose between them, which remained unresolved.

On the same day, around 20:30, T. Khachatryan arrived at an auto maintenance service point in his “Mercedes-Benz” car, accompanied by two close friends, to clarify the aforementioned issue. During the clarification, taking a trivial reason to emphasize his own superiority and driven by a craze to exhibit arrogant behavior, he provoked a quarrel with the staff, hurling sexual insults at them.

Subsequently, blatantly disregarding community regulations, and disturbing the peace of nearby citizens and residents of the neighborhood, he fired a shot with a firearm he was illegally carrying at the 46-year-old man, causing injuries characterized by slight harm to health and then fled the scene.