Ara Budaghyan to remain in custody
Ara Budaghyan, one of the four people arrested in connection with the assassination attempt of Syunik Governor Surik Khachatryan, will remain in custody. Budaghyan’s lawyer Hayk Alumyan appealed the decision of a Yerevan court to put his client under arrest at the Court of Criminal Appeal but the latter upheld the ruling. Talking to A1+ Hayk Alumyan expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision. According to the Armenian Investigative Committee, Syunik Governor Surik Khachatryan, his driver and assistant came under fire on Kapan-Goris road on May 20. The report said nobody was hurt in the shooting. The National Security Service (NSS) announced later that as a result of NSS ‘operational-investigative actions,’ four Kapan and Goris residents - Henrik Avagyan, Vitali Minasyan, Ara Budaghyan and Karen Atajanyan -were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the assassination attempt on Syunik Governor. Ara Budaghyan was charged with inducing an assassination attempt (criminal code of the Republic of Armenia, 38-34-104 article, 2nd part, 8th point). However, Ara Budaghyan denied any relation to the assassination attempt, also saying that he had not instigated anyone to commit the crime. Hayk Alumyan claims that the Budaghyans are being persecuted. He reminds that Ara’s brother Artak Budaghyan is sued for participating in a June 1, 2013, shootout outside Khachatryan’s sprawling mansion in Goris, in which their third brother Avetik Budaghyan was killed.
