At a press conference earlier today, Nareg Hartounian noted that many officials in Armenia are abusing their powers out of an insatiable thirst for money.

Hartounian, released from detention yesterday, thanked all those who came to his defense after he was arrested.

Nareg Hartounian said he and his family have invested in Armenia out of sincere patriotism and confided in those who have now turned against them, even to the point of offering false testimony.

He lamented the fact that the case has been dragging in the courts for about a year with no end, or justice, in sight.

Hartounian, President of the Naregatsi Art Union, lambasted the courts for their “despicable and unjust” decision to detain him.

Hartounian said that the family’s former legal proxy, Sevak Artzrouni, had launched a case against them in the hope that his own crimes of embezzlement wound be drowned out in the ensuing legal morass.

Nareg’s attorney, Lernik Hovhannisyan, told reporters that there are two cases now facing his client – one brought by the State Revenue Committee and the other by Sevak Artzrouni.

Hovhannisyan states that Nareg Hartounian had nothing to do with GH Storage Enterprises while Artzrouni was its director.

Despite it all, Nareg Hartounian told reporters that he hasn’t given up hope in Armenia and that he will continue the fight for justice.