I do not know who the criminal authority Don Pipo – Artur Asatryan – is. I cannot even say if he is a “criminal authority”, “a bandit by law” or simply a “good boy!”. It seems to me all these categories do not fit with the new realities of Armenia. If a person has a problem connected with the law, then s/he has to be punished. If s/he does not, then I might dislike his or her lifestyle, vocabulary or the intellectual level, but for the state s/he is a citizen just like me. In this case the issue is not only Don Pipo as much as General Manvel, who lately told to the journalists directly that the former Chief of Police Vladimir Gasparyan wanted to “catch” Pipo, that is – to subject him to criminal responsibility with the perspective of a trial later on, but Manvel Grigoryan has not allowed that criminal persecution to take place.
Here persons are not the issue, but the vivid manifestation of “old Armenia”. If Don Pipo or any other person has committed a crime, then the law enforcement bodies should persecute him or her. Any other citizen, Manvel Grigoryan included, has no right to prevent the law enforcement bodies and what is more important, he should not have such opportunity. If one, particularly Manvel Grigoryan gets proud of himself as if he has such opportunity, then he should be checked if he is telling the truth or a lie. If it is true, then he should be subjected to responsibility for hindering the justice.
There is another option, Don Pipo has not committed any crime. In that case, they should reveal what is the reason that Vladimir Gasparyan was persecuting that innocent man. And the last and the least possible version, I believe, is that all of this Manvel Grigoryan has made up totally. But in this case it is also noteworthy why such people made up stories about themselves: “I am such a good and powerful guy, that I was able to prevent a criminal case.” This is the main thesis of the mentality of “old Armenia” which has left very deep roots in the minds of the former and present “owners” of life. That conviction is possible to “pull out from the head” only due to pincers. Legal, of course.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
