With this sentence Armen Sargisyan, accused of ordering Tigran Naghdalyan’s assassination, concluded his closing remarks.

Armen Sargisyan November 11, 2003 statement in court shocked everyone present, to put it mildly. In traditional Armenian families, swearing on the life a child is a rare occurrence. Women may swear oaths, but men do so very rarely, and never on the lives of their children. The three-month-long trial has come to and end, and Judge Saro Aramyan is to pronounce the verdict within ten days. Until then, there are the closing remarks of the two sides to consider.

The trial of the men accused of ordering and carrying out the murder of Tigran Naghdalyan, the chairman of the Board of Directors of Armenian Public Television and Radio, shot and killed on December 28, 2002 while leaving his parents' home, began on July 28, 2003. It was soon after the murder on March 5, 2003, when the public was awaiting the results of the second round of the presidential election, that the discovery by law enforcement of the person responsible for the killing was announced on Public TV. The case had been distinguished by the fact that for the first time, a $250,000 reward had been offered for information leading to the killer.

According to charges brought by the office of the Prosecutor General, Armen Sarkisyan-a brother of Prime Minister Vasgen Sarkisyan, slain in Parliament in 1999-had ordered the killing. Aram Sarkisyan, the third brother, is a high-ranking member of theoppositionRepublicParty. The prosecutors asked the court to sentence Armen Sarkisyan, for ordering Tigran Naghdalyan’s murder, and John Harutiunyan, for carrying it out, to 15 years in prison. Naghdalyan’s relatives are unhappy, considering the sentences too light.

The prosecutors believe they have proven that Armen Sargisyan ordered Tigran Naghdalyan’s assassination on account of his professional activity, and that the murder was committed by John Harutiunyan. Armen Sargisyan, in his closing argument, drew the attention of the court to the fact that throughout the preliminary investigation, the testimonies of the men accused in the case frequently contradicted one another. He noted that these testimonies had been adapted to his own testimony in the course of the preliminary investigation, and said he believed that the investigation into this case has not uncovered anything.

Sargisyan’s lawyer, Robert Grigoryan, maintained that both the preliminary investigation and the trial had been used by the prosecutors not to perform a comprehensive, objective and full investigation into the murder, but to lay the blame on Armen Sargisyan. It was his opinion that neither the preliminary investigation nor the trial had produced sufficient evidence. Grigoryan considered the charges against Sargisyan unfounded, and asked the court to find him not guilty.

According to the charges, Hovhannes Harutiunyan, nicknamed Aper (Bro’), had served as messenger and intermediary between the two men, receiving $75,000 from Sargisyan for the murder, part of which he handed over to the alleged killer. The prosecutors asked the court to sentence Hovhannes Harutiunyan to seven years imprisonment. Why was his sentence so light? The answer came from the prosecutors - he had “assisted in disclosing the crime, and cooperated in revealing the other accomplices.”

Armen Sargisyan pointed out that according to the charges, “Aper” had already paid the immediate perpetrators $25,000, prior to and following Naghdalyan’s murder, before he ever received money from him.

And defense lawyer Robert Grigoryan insisted that “Aper” himself had denied in his testimony that Armen Sargisyan had ordered the killing on December 15, 2002. “It has been established that the criminal group had undertaken Tigran Naghdalyan’s murder earlier than the date mentioned - December 15, 2002 - when there had been no ‘order given’ by Armen Sargisyan.” In his closing statement, Grigoryan said, “There has been no proof presented either during the preliminary investigation or during the trial supporting the theory that Armen Sargisyan gave the order to kill Tigran Naghdalyan in revenge. There has been no testimony indicating that Armen Sargisyan has ever been discontented with Naghdalyan’s activity.”

The prosecutors cited as extenuating circumstances the facts that Armen Sargisyan has young children, that he had participated in the Nagorno Karabakh war and in military operations in defense ofArmenia’s borders, and that he had been decorated with the order of “Homeland Defender”

Armen Sargisyan’s last words in court were:

“I ask the court to examine the facts thoroughly and in detail, and if it finds that I ordered Tigran Naghdalyan’s murder, then the victim’s relatives are correct - I deserve life imprisonment.”

P.S. On November 18, 2003 the presiding judge on the Tigran Nagdalyan assassination case, Saro Abrahamyan, read the verdict, for the most part upholding the sentences sought by the prosecutors. He found Armen Sarkisyan guilty of ordering the killing and John Harutiunyan guilty of carrying it out, sentencing them each to 15 years in prison. Tigran Naghdalyan’s relatives are displeased with the sentence, as are Armen Sargisyan’s lawyers, who announced immediately after the trial that they would appeal.