Arshak Banouchyan – “I’m being persecuted for my political beliefs” Arshak Banouchyan, the former Deputy Director of the Matenadaran Repository of Ancient Manuscripts who was found guilty of embezzlement and then pardoned under the general amnesty provisions passed by the RoA National Assembly, made the following statement at his trial that he was being persecuted due to his political convictions.

“Persecutions for merely political reasons were unleashed during the last presidential campaign and afterwards, directed towards supporters of the First President of the RoA, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, those campaigning for him, working on his staff and citizens who just participated in those elections. OID search home of LTP’s Vayk campaign manager Mr. Banouchyan served as the head of Ter-Petrosyan’s campaign manager in the Vayk region in 2008. On the eve of March 24, 2008, law enforcement officials searched his house and later summoned him down to the prosecutor’s office for a “talk”. He was arrested on charges of “election graft and violating voting rights”. After being held in custody for four months, authorities changes his mode of detention on July 25 and later, on October 25, they dropped some of the charges due to lack of evidence. During his months in detention, employees of the Operative Investigative Department (OID) gained entry to the “Friends of the Matenadaran Foundation” and the “Magaghat Printers” and seized numerous documents. They also began to interview staff st the Matenadaran. “The legend surrounding the OID went up in smoke during the preliminary examination. They found no proof of any violations in my work. They uncovered no financial evidence to support the election graft charge so they had to come up with something else. They decided to make Arshak Banouchyan out as a serious economic player who had evaded paying taxes and who had misappropriated charitable works funds,” Arshak Banouchyan says. Mr. Banouchyan was charged with violating Article 179, Part 2, Point 1 and Article 38-205, Point 1, of the RoA Criminal Code – embezzlement or misappropriation of funds and evading tax and other mandatory fee payments. According to the indictment - Serving as the Executive Director of the “Friends of the Matenadaran Fund”, Arshak Banouchyan misused monies appropriated for the fund and failed to publicize a special ceremony marking the 1,600th anniversary of the Matenadaran. Indictment also charges “tax evasion” In addition, Arshak Banouchyan was charged with directing employees at the “Magaghat Printers”, of which he was owner, to sell 5,000 booklets and 71,000 postcards without proper sales documentation. Banouchyan was also charged with concealing and/or distorting the true financial figures of “Magaghat” from the company’s director, Nouneh Shahoumyan and chief accountant, Ruzanna Poghosyan. The indictment states that, as a result, Banouchyan owes the government 10.7 million AMD – 5.7 in taxes and 5 million in fines and penalties. Arshak Banouchyan’s case has been dragging through the courts for the past year. During the proceedings, Banouchyan was transferred from his post as Matenadaran Deputy Director to that of Division Head of Manuscript Research. During the trial, two employees were pardoned, only the case against Banouchyan continued. When it comes to the charge of “squandering of funds” there must be those who have suffered as a result; i.e. aggrieved parties. But, in the matter of the “Friends of the Matenadaran”, none could be produced. “Friends of Matenadaran” claim nothing is amiss The Fund’s Board of Trustees submitted a written statement that they refused to be recognized as an “aggrieved party” and testify in court. In their statements to the court they had only praise for the Fund’s contributions to the Matenadaran. The only ones remaining as “aggrieved parties” were the ones being charged. A portion of the postcards had been seized by employees of the OID from the Matenadaran’s storage room. Banouchyan presented the remaining postcards to the court himself during the preliminary examination. Other documentation regarding the donated postcards was presented, and the Board members testified that publicity of the anniversary ceremony had been postponed. Banouchyan’s defense lawyer, Tigran Atanesyan, demanded that the court exonerate his client given that it had been proven that the postcards in question were never sold. OID official – “This guy Hovhannes Tumanyan…How much did he donate?” Prosecuting Attorney Armen Boshnaghyan called for a 4.5 year sentence to be handed down to the defendant. Banouchyan declared his innocence in court and repeated his charge that the entire matter was a political witch-hunt. As proof of this claim he referred to part of a conversation he had with a member of the OID in which the official points to the yearly annual report of the “Friends of the Matenadaran Fund” and tells him, “Here’s your evidence”. Banouchyan asks for clarification. The OID guy say, “See here? There are over 7,000 names of donors. Where is all that money?” Then, according to Banouchyan, the OID official randomly places his index finger on one of the names and says, “Tumanyan, Hovhannes, 1922, Yerevan. How much did he contribute?” “I replied, my dear fellow, you are referring to the great poet Hovhannes Tumanyan. He donated a manuscript to the Matenadaran. The OID man insists that 1992 is the date of birth. I advised him to check the appendix t the back of the report where it is clearly written that only the names of the donors have been listed and that the earliest registered donor dates back to 1795. If it hadn’t been for this notation, I would have had to answer for all the Matenadaran’s tax liabilities starting back in 1795,” Mr. Banouchyan declared. The other day, Judge Gagik Poghosyan was supposed to have passed sentence. The court secretary however declared that the judge was still I chambers and would inform the parties of any developments separately.