The Activities of Anticrime and the Russian Federation Anticorruption Council Yield Results
“We have documents on misappropriation and abuse of your country’s former and current high-ranking officials. By the way, we have an agreement that those facts will be submitted to the high ranking officials of the Russian Federation in the next few days. It will be done only officially. We will not hide that, particularly given the fact that this is also about the high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation who ‘sponsored’ the outflow of dirty money from Armenia. The Russian Federation is interested in those revelations and in the return of the money stolen from Armenia, in order that this money ‘operates’ in your country for solution of the populace’s social problems,” Marina Galyuchenko, the public relations coordinator of the Russian Federation Anticorruption Council, said during a conversation with Aravot. It is also about Robert Kocharyan, a former president of the Republic of Armenia who was able to accumulate millions in a short period of time with the “sponsorship” of Russian President Vladimir Putin and at the expense of the Republic of Armenia. Let us remind that on December 6, the Motherland and Dignity Party founded Anticrime, a movement whose goal is to put an end to corruption in Armenia thanks to revelations. The organization has already been engaged in certain activities with similar organizations in the Russian Federation and Europe. “When a former official comes to the Russian Federation from a small country and immediately opens a huge trade center and places of entertainment, it means that he invests in the economy of the Russian Federation the money he has stolen from his country,” Ms. Galyuchenko says, abstaining for now from naming names, since she thinks that it will be better, if the investigation reveals that. By the way, Arbak Khachatryan, a human rights advocate not unknown in Armenia and the Russian Federation, also dealt with those issues rather seriously in the past, cooperating with the Russian Federation Anticorruption Council. “Armenia is a strategic partner of the Russian Federation, and Russia is concerned about stability, preventing emigration, and improving the socio-economic situation in Armenia,” Ms. Galyuchenko says, answering Aravot’s question why their organization decided to solve the issue of returning money stolen from the state of Armenia. It is interesting that it is about the money “misappropriated” by Robert Kocharyan, the second President of the Republic of Armenia, which he did, by the way, with the “sponsorship” of the then President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. Now the Russian Federation Anticorruption Council is going to put those documents on the desk of the current President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. We inquired of Ms. Glayuchenko what logic there was and why Vladimir Putin would decide to confide and tell about how he sponsored Robert Kocharyan, the President of the Republic of Armenia, in misappropriating his country’s money in the past. In any case, our interlocutor thinks that it is the right path. “We pin hopes on the honesty of the President of the Russian Federation, since he is elected by the people, and the people expect an honest answer. Besides, he has currently started a fight against corruption in the Russian Federation.” By the way, those facts will also be submitted to members of an international anticorruption organization, the UN Secretary General, and if necessary, official petitions will be filed in the European Court of Human Rights. Ms. Galyuchenko didn’t rule out that as a result of this process, a list of Armenian functionaries whose entry into the Russian Federation will be restricted due to
being enmeshed in corruption. “Unfortunately, corruption has become a lifestyle. Whereas all officials should clearly understand that they can undergo real punishments in such a case. Such lists are necessary.” In response to Aravot’s question what steps they would take, if it came to the current presidents of the countries, if the arrows of corruption pointed to them, so to speak, Vladimir Mamaev, the chairman of the Russian Federation Anticorruption Council, said that there would be a painful conflict with the reality, since there was the rule of personality in Russia, in particular, not the rule of law. In this regard, our interlocutor gives the example of France; as it is known, charges have been laid against Nicolas Sarkozy. Mr. Mamaev also reminds that Vladimir Putin issued an executive order on the immunity of the Yeltsin family. It is not ruled out that the next president will issue an executive order on the immunity of the Putin family too. “But an executive order is not a law, and everyone is equal before the law. Unfortunately, we still live in such Russia, where the law is not dominant. I think that it is the same in Armenia too,” our interlocutor says. Soon an affiliate of the Russian Federation Anticorruption Council will be established in Armenia and will try to expose our former and current government officials, cooperating with Anticrime.
NELLY GRIGORYAN
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