On October 12 the Court of First Instance of Avan and Nor Nork sentenced Silva Asatryan to nine in prison for organizing an assassination attempt on MP Melik Gasparyan. The would-be assassins were accused of detonating an improvised explosive device attached to the parliamentarian’s car. Gasparyan characterized his survival as a lucky coincidence. But some details suggest that the incident was more likely a handmade “miracle”.

On December 29 2001, Melik Gasparyan tried to start the engine of his SUV parked in the yard and the car exploded. The jeep was destroyed in the explosion, the  windows of the building were shattered, and other nearby cars were damaged.

The explosive device had been placed under the driver's seat. But the MP received only minor injuries in the powerful explosion, about which he gave contradicting statements to various news media. Once he said "I have cuts on my back, burns on my chest and arm.” Another time he said he had a bruise on his left leg. A third time he said that he “jumped to the right from his seat didn't receive any injuries.”

A miracle also befell the trousers that the MP was wearing that day. The outside material was torn in the explosion, but the lining wasn’t. These the trousers were exhibited in court six years ago.

It's also worth noting that although the explosion took place at around 10 in the morning, there were no witnesses. 

A criminal case was launched, headed  by Detective Ashot Nadoyan of the Office of the Prosecutor General, who ignored these dubious details and was instead  guided by Melik Gasparyan's suspicions.

The businessman MP had had serious business conflicts  with Artur Gyurjinyan. When asked if he suspected anyone, Gyurjinyan’s was the first name the MP gave (Hetq has written about this - See archives).

That day, law enforcement officials arrested Artur Gyurjinyan’s 19-year-old son Varuzhan.  Varuzhan "confessed to the crime" and added that he himself had built the explosive device and placed it under Gasparyan’s car in order to kill him.  The boy even gave a detailed confession on camera at the scene of the crime. But this "theatre" had been forced by beatings and threats. After nine months in jail,  he was freed. Law enforcement officials weren't able to conceal several pieces of evidence proving his innocence.

No one was ever taken to task for any of this. Even more, four years later, in September 2005, law enforcement officials again "discovered” the case of the explosion of the MP's car and Ashot Nadoyan was once again assigned to investigate.

This time former employee of the National Secret Service (NSS), Deputy General Yuri Wolfson was arrested. During a search in his apartment a large cache of weapons and arms were found, including specially made explosive materials. Despite this, according to law enforcement officials, the skilled deputy general used a homemade device and botched the explosion.

NSS head Gorik Hakobyan called the ethnically Jewish Wolfson "a person without a homeland" and noted that he had been fired from the NSS in the mid-1990s. However, certain documents reveal that Wolfson was working at the NSS till 2004. Why the NSS made its own agent a criminal in such a way is another-mysterious-subject. Wolfson himself characterizes his misfortunes as a conspiracy against him by NSS head Gagik Hakobyan and deputy head Hrachya Harutyunyan (nicknamed Hrach the Shooter). "The goal is personal enrichment and ruining the reputation of those who are directly above me [in the NSS], " Wolfson said.

In any case, the deputy general also made a statement of "confession", saying that the explosion had been ordered by Silva Asatryan. Asatryan is the mother of Varuzhan Gyurjinyan, who was previously charged with the same crime. During a meeting with Asatryan, Wolfson repeated his statements but before leaving the room he said, "The most important thing is our children, they are alive and healthy."

Later on, in February 2006, the former agent wrote in a letter to the Prosecutor General  "Statements I gave in the past do not correspond to reality. They were forced confessions, caused by physical and psychological pressure exerted upon me, and threats against my relatives. I never received any order from Silva Asatryan and did not attempt to assassinate Melik Gasparyan." In the letter Wolfson also wrote that after his arrest he was taken to the NSS deputy head, who suggested that he help solve the case of the explosion. Wolfson said that he has no connection with it. "You will regret it," Harutyunyan threatened.

Afterwards Wolfson was taken to the office of the deputy head of the NSS general administration, Hrant Yepiskoposyan, where agents tried to persuade him to confess, promising that they would only charge him with hooliganism. The NSS agents told him, "Everyone knows that an expert like you couldn't miss" and that they were “not interested in him, but in Silva Asatryan's family."

After Silva Asatryan, who works as a teacher, was arrested, her husband Artur Gyurjinyan was also sought.

In 1992 Artur Gyurjinyan was arrested on charges of smuggling (at that time he met Wolfson while being held in an isolation cell) but soon the case against him fell apart due to lack of conclusive evidence.

Fourteen year later, the Prosecutor General’s Office remembered that story, but was never able to form charges against Gyurjinyan. After half a year in prison,  he was freed.

Gyurjinyan explained his imprisonment as the consequence of his efforts after his wife's imprisonment "to create public opinion via press conferences and pressure the government to stop the illegal repressions against his family.”
 
Despite all this, based on the confessions of Yuri Wolfson, the criminal case against Silva  Asatryan was heard in court. The trial lasted two years. Prosecutor Janna Kotikyan requested sentences of ten years in prison for the deputy general, and nine years for Silva Asatryan.

"No matter how many times you [prosecutor J. Kutikyan] say that I'm guilty, I am sure that deep down you do not agree with your own words. Moreover, you are angry at those who force you to uphold this false and heinous charge.

“Every order from above is immediately obeyed without question. But before obeying, it would be good if every person asked himself whether he or she agreed with the order wholeheartedly or simply obeyed it like a loyal dog obeys its owner's commands. I am sure that if that happened our country would not be in such bad shape."

This is an excerpt from Silva Asatryan's closing statement in the court. The court, Judge Samvel Ugunyan presiding, sentenced Yuri Wolfson to eleven years in prison  and Silva Asatryan to nine years. The court has yet to provide a written verdict, although according to the law the deadline for doing so was October 16th. Once the verdict is issued,  the defendants plan to appeal.