‘Chagh Rustam’ Claims No Connection to ‘Faz’ Murder, Past Disagreements Resolved

The criminal authority linked to ‘FAZ’—Sergey Grigoryan’s murder case—Rustam Stepanyan, known as ‘Chagh Rustam,’ asserts that he has no connection to the incident and that inter-personal issues have already been resolved. This was stated by attorney Gegham Hakobyan in a conversation with ‘FactInfo.’

Recall that the incident occurred on June 11, late in the evening, in the Ajapnyak administrative district, where deadly gunfire was unleashed near a residential building. On June 11, at 23:17, the Mashtots police station received a report of gunfire on Estonian Street, and then at 23:53, ‘Armenia’ hospital informed that two men—born in 1988 with a ‘gunshot wound to the neck’ and born in 1980 with ‘gunshot wounds to various parts of the head’—were admitted for medical assistance.

An operational-investigative group discovered that at 23:13, an unknown individual fired at the men who were later transported to the hospital from the vicinity of Building 25 of Builders Street, where Sergey G., born in 1980, died without regaining consciousness. The compiled documents were forwarded to the investigative division.

The Investigative Committee reported that a criminal case had been initiated regarding the incident under Articles 155, part 2, point 7, and 335, part 1 of the RA Criminal Code. An inspection of the crime scene was conducted at Servicemen Street in Yerevan, where vehicles of the brands ‘LAND CRUISER,’ ‘TOYOTA CAMRY,’ ‘OPEL ASTRA,’ and ‘TOYOTA COROLLA’ were found collided with each other. Bullet damage was found in the front and rear parts of the ‘LAND CRUISER,’ and traces of a blood-like substance were detected inside the vehicle. Numerous cartridges of various calibers were discovered in the trunk of the ‘OPEL ASTRA’ and at the crime scene.

Immediately after the incident, it became known that the leads to the murder pointed to criminal authority Rustam Stepanyan, who, according to circulating rumors, also has connections with certain representatives of the current authority. Moreover, it was widely known about the inter-personal issues between ‘Faz’ and ‘Chagh Rustam.’ Now, about a month after Sergey Grigoryan's murder, Rustam Stepanyan and A. Kyureghyan were arrested and subsequently detained on charges of organizing the murder, while the perpetrators crossed the Armenian border and went to the Russian Federation after the incident.

Rustam Stepanyan’s defense attorney Gegham Hakobyan told ‘FactInfo’ that Stepanyan has briefly stated his position regarding the accusation, asserting that he does not consider himself guilty and, moreover, has indicated that he had no relationship with Grigoryan. As for the known disagreements, regarding past incidents leading to criminal cases between them, the attorney mentioned that according to Stepanyan, everything has been resolved and there are no issues. Regarding circulating news that the motive for the murder was a dispute arising over a woman, the attorney stated that according to his information, this does not correspond to reality.