Today, Hunan Poghosyan, who heads the Police department’s Organized Crime Division, verified rumors that Areg Hayrapetyan, who used to run the Ministry of Culture’s Legal Affairs and Audit Division had been arrested two days ago.

Poghosyan refused to provide any details, arguing that his division wasn’t authorized to do so. Rumor has it that a search of Hayrapetyan’s house revealed a second passport in his name and blank Ministry forms signed by the minister.

The RoA Chief Prosecutor’s Office has taken possession of videotape showing an unknown individual assaulting photo-journalist Gagik Shamshyan in front of the CPO building on February 24. A criminal case has been launched surrounding the incident.

The security camera luckily was on at the time of the incident but it seems that the audio was turned off. The tape is available on the CPO Website.

Photo-journalist Gagik Shamshyan was attacked and beaten earlier today outside the RoA Chief Prosecutor’s Office. Mr. Shamshyan had gone to cover a session of the Chief Prosecutor’s staff and was photographing officials as they entered the building when he was attacked by a young man.

At a press conference held after the session, Mr. Shamshyan used the opportunity to relate what had happened to him to Chief Prosecutor Aghvan Hovsepyan. Mr. Shamshyan said his attacker entered the building and asked Prosecutor Hovsepyan if he could file criminal charges against the culprit. The Chief Prosecutor replied, “I demand that you put it all down in writing and that you provide us with the photos and tape recording so that we can investigate the matter.”

Today, Yerevan Police Chief Nerses Nazaryan said that he had personally apologized to journalist Gohar Veziryan, in the name of the Yerevan Police Department, and that the “Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” newspaper reporter accepted the apology.

Chief Nazaryan made the claim at a press conference today where reporters asked why was it that members of the police sometimes push and shove old women at rallies and other public events, and even strike reporters. Reporters then gave the example of Veziryan, who was hit by police when covering an opposition protest march back in October, 2007. »»»»»

Retailers Found Guilty but Won’t Do Jail Time

Last year, Vardan Avetisyan and Vazgen Pkhrikyan, in two separate cases, stood before an Armenian court, charged with bank fraud and money laundering. According to the indictment, the two had illegally copied “MBNA America Bank” cards to extract funds and then laundered the stolen cash. »»»»»

Claiming insufficient evidence to the contrary, a pre-examination unit has dropped charges against HAK activist Tigran Arakelyan.

The same unit also dropped criminal charges against Sahak Moradyan and Herbert Gevorgyan, two other activists indicted in the same case. »»»»»

Two veterinary inspectors working for the “Livestock Testing Center, Ltd” have been arrested of taking bribes totalling 450,000 AMD to allow vendors at the Malatia market to sell meat products without a safety inspection certificate.

The bribes were taken by the two inspectors last October. A third inspector from the same firm was also charged with taking a monthly bribe of 150,000 AMD.

According to Ashot Karapetyan, Chief of the Kentron Police Division, a third suspect has been identified in the murder case of American-Armenian businessman Nazaret Berberian. While the suspect’s name cannot be revealed due to the on-going investigation, Chief Karapetyan says that the individual is still in Armenia.

Berberian went missing last April 25. He left his Yerevan apartment and was never seen again. His mutilated body was discovered twenty days later, buried in a gully along the Yerevan-Sevan highway. »»»»»

Three criminal cases involving the trafficking of minors in Armenia were adjudicatedin 2009. In one of the cases, four children were found to have been commercially trafficked and two individuals were sentenced to imprisonment.

In the two other cases, one was dropped and the other lead to a five year prison sentence for one individual found guilty of Article 168 of the RoA Criminal Code (the buying and selling of minors).

Late last night unknown assailants broke into the headquarters of the New National Conservative Movement in Lori. The Movement has demanded that the government bring those responsible to justice.

A statement issued by the Movement described the perpetrators as “scum” and said that they ransacked the office, breaking furniture, tearing down the Movement’s insignia and ripping up the flag of the RoA. The statement went on to say that this was the second attack on the office and asserted that the perpetrators either enjoyed the tacit support of local authorities or that these authorities were incapable of maintaining the rule of law in the district.

According to the RoA Police Department, there were two murders registered in the country during the first thirteen days of 2010 and twenty-four cases of robbery.

There were seventy-five road accidents in Armenia accompanied by seven fatalities and 118 injuries.

A special Armenian investigative unit arrested Police Captain H. Simonyan, senior department head at the Arabkir Investigations Division, on suspicion of  “abuse of official powers”.

A preliminary investigation has revealed that Simonyan conducted a number of irregularities during the preparation of a case file for Investigator D. Atoyan working at the Arabkir branch of the Police Department.

The RoA General Prosecutor’s Office has issued a statement saying that T. Grigoryan, Chief of the Environmental Inspectorate at the Ministry of Nature Protection, and his deputy, A. Petrosyan, have been formally charged with taking large cash bribes. The two have been taken into protective custody pending that start of criminal proceedings

The GPO has stated that the two officials conspired to extort 5 million AMD from the Akhtala Mining Enrichment Company in order that the Ministry extend the deadline for the completion of a water distribution system along the Nahatak River in the Ayrum-Tchotchkan valley in Lori. The Akhtala Mining Company belongs to Serob Ter-Petrosyan, an advisor to Prime Minister Sargsyan.

The Head of the RoA Nature Protection Ministry’s Environmental Inspectorate, Tigran Grigoryan, and his deputy, Arsen Petrosyan, were arrested yesterday for taking a 5 million AMD bribe.

Arsen Petrosyan, the Deputy Chief of the Environmental Inspectorate of the RoA Ministry of Nature Protection, had demanded a 5 million AMD bribe from a company to conceal environmental violations and to reduce the amount of fines the firm could have been hit with. Members of the RoA Organized Crime Division confronted Arsen Petrosyan at his office yesterday with the charges and the government official broke down and confessed. »»»»»

According to figures supplied by the RoA Police Department, 154 cars were stolen this year so far in Armenia and that 105 were recovered.

This compares to 211 cases of car theft in 2008, of which 129 were solved.