New Details on the Attack on the Vehicle Transporting Tigran Hamasyan

The organizing council of the "Land and Water"-2 event has issued a statement regarding the attack on the concert group: "The initiative group of the 'Land and Water'-2 cultural event had planned a concert and filming in a field setting on August 29, near the slopes of Aragats. In the morning, around 70 people, along with the world-renowned jazz musician, composer, and performer Tigran Hamasyan and the Khazzer choir, set out to organize the concert audio recording and filming at Lake Rapi located on the northern slope of Aragats.

At around 4 PM, three individuals unrelated to the event arrived at the filming site in a vehicle, stationed themselves on the opposite shore of the lake, and appeared in the shot. The organizers politely asked them to move a bit further away to avoid disrupting the filming. However, after moving, at 6 PM, the group started making an unbearable commotion. Again, the members of the organizing committee requested them to keep quiet and join the concert and filming silently. The group refused, promised to be quiet but began making noise again after 7 PM, intentionally yelling and whistling, disturbing the recordings and filming.

At around 7:20 PM, the audience near the choir by the lake approached the group and explained the unacceptability of their behavior, after which the group left but returned shortly after to observe the participants and the vehicles before leaving the area again. The concert recording was completed by 7:45 PM.

On the way back, a convoy of 10 vehicles was blocked at the intersection of Geghardzor village and the H21 (Artik-Alagyaz) road by the same group, obstructing the movement. Members of the group attacked the first few vehicles, breaking the window of one car in which Tigran Hamasyan was present, and assaulted the driver of another car, hitting him multiple times in the face and striking his head against the steering wheel.

The group called the police at 9:20 PM. Patrol officers arrived at the scene by 9:45 PM, but those who had attacked the vehicles fled the scene. A report of the crime was filed with the police. Analyzing the situation and addressing public interest, as well as wanting to counter the dissemination of misleading information in certain cheap propaganda outlets, we announce that photos of the members of the criminal group who obstructed filming and broke the window of one of the vehicles, along with photos of the vehicles and their license plates, have been provided to the police for appropriate investigation. We expect urgent and effective measures from the RA police and other law enforcement agencies to identify the criminals. Otherwise, we will activate other mechanisms to establish justice on our own responsibility. Armenia must be cleansed of criminals. If law enforcement officials are unable or unwilling to solve this problem, we will take matters into our own hands with full accountability. Fortunately, no one sustained serious physical harm from the incident.

The behaviors propagated by these criminal elements are absolutely unacceptable, which starkly contrasts with the hospitable and friendly reception by Edgar Ohanyan, the administrative head of Geghardzor village, and other residents of Geghardzor. We kindly request responsible and diligent media outlets to utilize this message; there will be no separate interviews. Depending on the course of the investigation and necessity, further statements will be made."