Hetq is starting a series highlighting various members of the RoA National Assembly. This week we would like to bring to your attention MP Hrant Grigoryan who represents District 20 in Armavir Marz.

For the past month, Hetq reporter Natasha Harutyunyan has attempted to organize an interview with MP Hrant Grigoryan. He has never made a speech on the floor of parliament and once told a reporter that he doesn’t give interviews. »»»»»

MP Tigran Torosyan: “People must understand officials are not here to hand out favors”

Trying to reach the village of Vardenis, Aragatzotn Marz, especially during the winter, is an arduous and nearly impossible journey. Roads leading to the village, located just five kilometers from the town of Abaran, are covered with slick ice from the hardened snows. »»»»»

Sasha Davtyan, a resident of the Katnaghbyur village in Aragatzotn, had his 4 year sentence for physically abusing his daughter reduced to three years today by the Criminal Court of Appeals. After delivering the sentence, Judge M. Rehanyan freed Davtyan under the amnesty statutes passed by the RoA National Assembly.

Mr. Davtyan had been arrested in May, 2009, and charged with raping one of his daughters and physically assaulting the other. In December, the Aragatzotn District Court dropped the rape charge and sentenced him to four years on the assault charge.

Raises Three Grandchildren in Hut Next to Town Garbage Dump

For the past two years Laura Tadevosyan has been raising her three young grandchildren next to a smoldering garbage dump in the village of Sasunik, Aragatzotn Marz.

This is where Carmen Ghahramanyan, the children’s mother, died in December, 2009. »»»»»

Farmers can’t pay off loans when 3,500 tons of grapes remain in refrigerators

Everyone in the village of Verin Artashat, in Ararat Marz, is unhappy about their lot in life. Almost all have put their homes and land up as collateral for loans.

“There’s absolutely no one who cares about the villager. »»»»»

Residents Say Town Becoming a “Little Sicily”

Residents of the town of Martuni, in Gegharkunik Province, are fearful and angry. During the past month, crimes have followed one another like clockwork but none of the perpetrators have been caught. The situation has riled local inhabitants to the point where they are preparing to collect signatures and send the petition off to the president and chief justice, demanding that the lawbreakers be found and prosecuted. »»»»»

In an apparent surprise to many in attendance, Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan opened the next consecutive session of the Aragatzotn Regional Council. After rural community leaders presented a check list of the problems faced by area villagers, Mr. Gevorgyan responded, “Don’t make me cry.”

DPM Gevorgyan said that henceforth, local community leaders would be present during Regional Council sessions and that they would thus be given the opportunity to raise issues they face in their respective communities. This view was contrasted by the fact that none of the local leaders present at yesterday’s hearings rose to ask a question of Aragatzotn Regional Administrator Sargis Sahakyan. »»»»»

Many residents of Verin Artashat, a village in Ararat Marz, are having a tough time paying off their loans. Some put their houses up for collateral, others, their land.

Most didn’t want to talk about their financial problems, but a few relented. They told me how they spent the money lent by banks and credit agencies. Some phoned on my way back to Yerevan and asked that I not publish what they had said. »»»»»

See also: Official Cover-Up? Abduction and Rape Trial of 17 Year-Old Hits Dead-End

Village residents found out that their neighbor, Sasha Davtyan, had been charged with the rape of his own daughter, 17 year-old Anahit, when the police came to arrest him. The news shook the village to its core. »»»»»

Arshak Ghazaryan, high school principal in the village of Bagaran straddling the Armenian border with Turkey, fears that there’ll be no one left in the community in a few more years.

He says that the young people are leaving, due to a lack of work, and the birth rate has gone down. But he can’t blame them for doing so since socio-economic conditions are forcing them to find their fortunes elsewhere. »»»»»