Court hears victim in case against OMON agents who kidnapped Armenian natives

The Vidnoe District Court of the Moscow Region continues hearings on the case against OMON (riot police) agents accused of kidnapping of representatives of the Armenian Diaspora in Moscow for ransom. Brother of a kidnapped person testified at the trial.

Let us remind you that, according to investigators, in September 2009 Akop Meliksetyan, famous in criminal circles, organized kidnapping of a person to extort money. To commit the crime, he engaged former and current OMON agents, who on September 24 kidnapped and kept the victim for almost a month. On October 20, 2009, the hostage was released due to the actions of law enforcement agencies. This special operation put an end to the four-year series of kidnappings of representatives of the Armenian Diaspora in Moscow.

The dock contained seven persons: former and current OMON agents from the Moscow Region unit "Zubr" (Bison), including Anton Demidenko, Konstantin Dozorov, Alexei Karmanov, Sergey Kotov, Sergey Otrakovsky and Samvel Voskanyan.

Today's hearing started an hour late. At the beginning of the hearing, the victim - Sochi entrepreneur Lorik Abramyan - was interrogated.

He said that on December 23, 2009, he learned that his brother had been kidnapped.

"Later, an unidentified person with Slavic voice confirmed on the phone the information about my brother's kidnapping. No threats or demands were voiced," Lorik Abramyan stated.

According to the victim, in the subsequent phone calls, he was asked to "collect 6 million US dollars." The brother of the kidnapped man did not attempt to collect "incredible amount" and did not address anyone for help.

"The caller introduced himself as a man from a "secret service" and said he had received an order. He did not agree to a smaller amount of ransom," Lorik Abramyan said.

He has stressed that he learned the release of his brother also from a phone call.

The victim was visibly agitated, responding to the questions of the lawyers.

He also stated that he "did not file an official complaint to law enforcement agencies not to expose my brother to risk."

During the Abramyan's interrogation, the defendants were calm. The hearing is attended by the representatives of the Armenian Diaspora, who support the defendant Meliksetyan.