Armenian Security Service agents took away and beat oppositionist's bodyguards

On April 21, about 1 p.m., not far from Erebuni police station in Yerevan, 12 unidentified persons, eight of them in masks, stopped the car of Aram Karapetyan, chairman of the "Novye Vremena" (New Times) Armenian Party, and his accompanying cars. Mr. Karapetyan's driver and his bodyguards were forced down on the ground, searched and then taken to the Security Service (NOTE OF THE "KN": Security Service is former KGB), allegedly, with the aim to check for non-registered weapons.

According to the press service of the "Novye Vremena" Party, the persons in masks left Aram Karapetyan in the street and took away his bodyguards and driver in the service car belonging to the Party. The whole action was filmed by masked people by several video cameras.

Several hours later, the Security Service released the bodyguards and the driver of Aram Karapetyan, leader of the "Novye Vremena" Party.

According to the information of the Security Service, "the bodyguards of the newly-baked revolutionary Aram Karapetyan" were brought to the police on suspicion of bearing unregistered weapons. According to the message, two of the bodyguards put up a resistance.

Meanwhile, the press service of the "Novye Vremena" Party rejects the fact: "The "Novye Vremena" Party expresses its indignation with the incident and qualifies it as a purely Armenian expression of political banditism. Because of rude treatment, four out of six guardmen of Aram Karapetyan got bodily injuries of various gravity, one of the cars was destroyed. The cars were returned to the Party, while the Security Service fighters promised to return the bodyguards' gas pistols on April 25," the message of the "Novye Vremena" Party runs. "Gor Akopyan, Director of the Security Service of Armenia, is a fool. One of the reasons of attack on me and my people was our intention to hold a meeting in front of the building of the Security Service," Aram Karapetyan, chairman of the "Novye Vremena" Party, told the journalists. As to his bodyguards bearing non-registered weapons, A. Karapetyan stated that they knew pretty well at the Security Service that all the workers of his guard possess only officially registered firearms.

The political board of the "Homeland and Honour" Party has defined the actions of the workers of the Security Service in relation to the members of the "Novye Vremena" Party as terrorism. "This is just another routinely repeated aggressive trick of the regime in relation to the opposition. We are deeply indignant with what happened and resolutely condemn this sort of behaviour that is beyond any democratic norms," the statement of the "Homeland and Honour" Armenian Party runs.