In an interview with the editors-in-chief of print newspapers, former Director of the National Security Service Artur Vanetsyan revealed how he worked for the NSS, whether or not he had a relationship with the Prime Minister and the government, and what orders he passed down, including illegal ones. Artur Vanetsyan said, “An officer who has had 20 years of experience will never speak about his personal and work-related conversations with the Prime Minister. But, in any case, I will note that the Prime Minister has publicly given orders that are not able to be carried out. During a government session, he said that he orders the NSS to check the receipts printed by gas stations. He ordered the NSS to arrest people in black who are walking around the city armed. What black clothes, what armed people? The latest developments showed that there are rumors about people who are allegedly terrorizing the public. The work of law enforcement agencies has reached a new low. They take someone into custody and that person comes out laughing. During the Soviet era, there was a saying in Russian that people who misbehaved would be given 15 ‘shifts.’ Now, let them give whoever speaks out against the authorities is given 15 ‘shifts’ so that way they can at least know what law they broke. What is the purpose of having someone wait by the police station all day only to have them go home, taken into custody, and then released a half an hour later.”
When asked if he believes that he will be subject to the same treatment, Artur Vanetsyan responded that he was invited to the Investigative Committee as a witness in the wiretapping case. He also provided his testimony during the case surrounding former Armenian Football Federation Director Ruben Hayrapetyan.
In response to a question about whether or not Nikol Pashinyan gave direct orders in regard to Serzh Sargsyan, Robert Kocharyan, Hrayr Tovmasyan, and Mikayel Minasyan, Artur Vanetsyan said, “The order was to make everyone who broke the laws of Armenia be held responsible, regardless of the position they held in the past or the present. As an official, I carried out the order and you are aware of how many people were held responsible.”
When asked if there is anything that he can say that would make Nikol Pashinyan scared or have problems, Artur Vanetsyan said, “I will never publicize such a thing. I have always fought against this and in favor of keeping state secrets. No one should expect to hear any details regarding state secrets or personal details from me. If I say that I don’t know anything, you will not take me seriously. I am not only saying this in regard to Nikol Pashinyan, but in general. For those who are worried about whether or not Artur Vanetsyan knows a lot of information, let me remind you that a former official provided two or three state secrets to a news outlet a few months ago. Why isn’t that person being held responsible?”
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Tatev Harutyunyan
