Residents Say Town Becoming a “Little Sicily”

Residents of the town of Martuni, in Gegharkunik Province, are fearful and angry. During the past month, crimes have followed one another like clockwork but none of the perpetrators have been caught. The situation has riled local inhabitants to the point where they are preparing to collect signatures and send the petition off to the president and chief justice, demanding that the lawbreakers be found and prosecuted.

Town folk are quick to point out that “unless blood is spilt” the cops are good for nothing. It all started with an explosion at the store of Tzatur Manukyan, father of senior Martuni City Council member Tigran Manukyan. On December 27, 2009, at around 5:00 am, an explosion completely demolished the two-story produce store belonging to “Arev-1” Ltd. So powerful was the blast, that the store was reduced to a pile of rubble. Even windows of buildings in the neighborhood were shattered. A bread-baking oven, also belonging to Taztur Manukyan, located in the vicinity was destroyed as well. It was merely a stroke of good luck that no one was injured by the explosion. Just three minutes before the explosion, three workers at the bakery had strolled by the store.

Blast destroys store belonging to mayor’s friend

Locals claim that the explosion had political overtones and was directed at Martuni Mayor Bagrat Harutyunyan. It turns out that Tzatur Manukyan is a close friend and confidant of the mayor. Mr. Manukyan denies that the explosion was a premeditated act of violence and insists that a gas leak is to blame. “Since the store was totally destroyed and nothing remained intact, I have two theories. The first is that a gas heater had been placed in the store and the other possibility is that gas escaped from a tank used to cook “shawruma” sandwiches. “Most probably it was the gas from the tank,” he told Hetq. Aram Sargsyan, Chief Engineer with Martuni’s “HayRusGazArd”, says that tests show that the explosion wasn’t gas related. “In any event, the blast wasn’t from natural gas. Furthermore, the store wasn’t a customer of our utility; it wasn’t tied in to our supply. There was no gas leak there. And there was no fire after the explosion. All the gas valves were in the locked position. The valve on the gas heater was also shut,” Mr. Sargsyan said. “We’ve brought in experts who are still conducting an inspection. While they haven’t published any final results, that say that the blast was definitely from the gas tank. This wasn’t a premeditated act,” asserts the owner of “Arev-1”.

Burial bust of mayor’s brother desecrated

Four days later, in the wee hours of December 31, the bust of Colonel Harutyun Harutyunyan, Mayor Bagrat Harutyunyan’s brother, was removed from the Martuni cemetery and dumped opposite the cinema house. The perpetrators remain unidentified. Two days before the cemetery incident, leaflets had been posted in Martuni that read, “If you don’t demolish the illegal structure located on Shahumyan Avenue next to the Mayor’s Office, you will wind up like your brother.” The defilement of the grave belonging to the mayor’s brother really got the town on edge. “This is politics, pure and simple. Of course, the case will be solved because the modus operandi is the same. It’s the same group of individuals that were distributing leaflets during the presidential elections. The way I see it, there were some people who spent a lot of money to get elected mayor of Martuni but failed. Now they are trying to defame the mayor because, despite his shortcomings, he has really cleaned up the town,” Mr. Manukyan said. He says that all the recent crimes taking place in Martuni can be attributed to those individuals who want to become mayor during the next round of elections.

Targeted businessman suspicious of police and prosecutor

“I would rather not give specific names because it isn’t my purview. The police and the national security service are paid salaries by the government and it’s their job to get to the bottom of what’s happening. It will probably take some time to come up with answers, but that’s their problem. It’s just wrong to have to spend money to get elected mayor. Individuals who spend money but don’t get elected devise other plans. Bribes and spending money during elections also leads to this,” Mr. Manukyan said. He says that the noose has tightened around the gang of culprits and that it should be easy to expose them. Why then, we asked, hadn’t the police made any arrests? “You’d have to talk to the prosecutor or the police chief for the answer. You should ask them what’s preventing them from identifying the perpetrators; what with all that’s going on,” Mr. Manukyan answered. During our conversation with Martuni Mayor Bagrat Harutyunyan, he said that the structure on Shahumyan Avenue was just a red herring and had no connection to the incidents taking place. “The Shahumyan building is just being used to misdirect public attention. That building is listed in the official town blueprints and the government is the one that certifies the blueprints. Before the building was registered in the blueprints, the former mayor allocated the land for public use and people could erect mobile commerce stalls on the site. We prohibited such usage since it’s unseemly to have little makeshift stalls right next to the mayor’s office,” Mayor Harutyunyan argued. The land was put up for bid and fourteen individuals won title. Mayor Harutyunyan also linked recent events with local politics. “There’s a political battle being waged today; a struggle for office. I believe this is the root cause. By defiling my brother’s statute they hit me in a soft spot, hoping that I would resign and leave. I’m doing a good job. Those that can’t beat me at the polls revert to hitting me where it hurts so that I will leave and they will replace me. I can’t say what else they will do. All I know is that the people elected me. So how can I just resign?” said the mayor. He also noted that during the 2008 presidential elections, campaign posters, employing the foulest of language, had been affixed throughout the town calling on people not to elect Serzh Sargsyan. He says that threatening and abuse posters also appeared directed at him and other workers. Mayor Harutyunyan said that he is waiting impatiently for the police to reveal who the culprits are but isn’t convinced that the cops are doing all they can. He believes that the presidential election leaflets and recent events are linked and part of the same scheme. “Vandalism is running amuck in Martuni. Our people are suffering from envy,” the mayor concluded.

Car of hospital director set ablaze

On the night of January 20, the official car belonging to Martuni Hospital Director Sedrak Sahakyan was set ablaze. The perpetrators were brazen enough to walk right up to the car that was parked in the hospital yard. A few days later, the police showed up to ask Director Sahakyan how it happened that his car caught fire. His sardonic response – Isn’t there more important news in the country? The hospital’s director, who also holds the rank of chief physician, says he was in Yerevan at the time and has nothing specific to add as to motive. “I’m a doctor, not a detective. It’s a problem for the fire inspector and police, no?” Director Sahakyan said.  Nevertheless, he sees some tenuous link between his car going up in smoke and the events related to Mayor Bagrat Harutyunyan.

Mayor also faults journalists for atmosphere of intolerance

“At some point, I connect those events with what happened to my car. It’s linked to the situation prevailing in the country and, excuse me for saying so, you journalists have had a hand in fostering that situation. This country will not get on its feet unless we start listening to one another. Everyone wants to attain power and some government position. There have been many examples of this mindset, starting with the elections. Leaflets were posted to the walls attacking the candidates and no one lifted a finger. What’s happening now is just a continuation of that,” said Director Sahakyan. The Police Press Office told Hetq that no criminal case had yet been initiated regarding the December 27 explosion at the produce store. An investigation into the matter is presently underway. A criminal case has been launched regarding the destruction of the bust of the mayor’s brother (RoA Criminal Code, Article 265, “Defilement of a corpse or burial site”). The preliminary investigation continues. No criminal charges have been brought in the case of Director Sahakyan’s car catching fire. All the police say is that an inquiry is underway.

Residents want answers but remain fearful of “mafiosi”

A Martuni resident we spoke to outside the mayor’s office said that “Martuni was looking more like Sicily every day”. He, and many others we met, were afraid to give their names, arguing that Mafiosi-types had increased in the town. Even those who boasted they feared no one avoided giving their last names. A man who gave his name as Yurik said, “They shouldn’t have acted like that towards a freedom-fighter. He was a patriot. What they did was childish and incorrect. Hey, it’s the mafia, nothing else.” The only soul brave enough to give his full name was Varazdat Papoyan, who said that the people were no longer afraid of such stuff, arguing that, “the century of fear had long since past.” “It was a cheap and rotten move to deface the statue of the freedom-fighter; an act of sheer barbarity. If I knew who did it, I’d take a rock and smash the guy’s skull in. Let them execute me for it. Drop dead and good riddance I say,” said grandpa Varazdat.