(See also: Strangers among their own)

In 1989 the Babadjanov, a mother and daughter who, like the Martirosyans, had also been expelled from Baku, settled in a semi-basement apartment in the same building at 8 Moskovyan Street. They sold whatever they could and turned the basement into an apartment. They were engaged in trading, barely making ends meet, when in 1995 they were the victims of a robbery. At that time, a man in a police uniform named Arthur Mardoyan appeared in their home and soon became a close friend of the family's. Taking advantage of Lilia Babadjanova's trust, he took the jewelry in their possession, allegedly for safekeeping. He also took the family's utility payments receipts books, to help the mother and the daughter to get registered in Apartment 48, 8 Moskovyan St., or so he said

In order to pay off the owners of the jewelry that he stole, the mother and the daughter went to the Northern Caucasus. In Cherkesk they were taken hostages by Chechen guerillas. They were freed from the captivity by Russian Federal troops, and returned to Yerevan four months later. When they tried to make their utility payments, the head of the 8 Moscovyan condominium, Levon Shaldjyan, told them, "The apartment has an owner, Arthur Mardoyan, and he will make the payments."

The Babadjanovs didn't take him seriously at first, but when Arthur Mardoyan, who had fraudulently privatized the refugees' only shelter, threatened to evict them, they embarked on the thorny path of justice.

"When our lawyer demanded copies of the documents presented by Arthur Mardoyan, it turned out that the head of the condominium, Levon Shaldjyan, had given him a certificate stating that Mardoyan had been residing here since 1989. It's a downright lie, certified by the chairman with his experience in forgery. During the time period in question and even today, he has been registered in the three-bedroom Apartment #22, 51 Nalbandyan St. Besides, the petition prepared by the lawyer stating that my mother and I have lived in Apartment 48, 8 Moskovyan Street since 1989 and have done major repair work there, is signed by seventeen of our neighbors. Our neighbors are prepared testify in court that no one besides us has lived in that apartment and that they don't know any Arthur Mardoyan," Lilia Babadjanova says.

"We also have a certificate signed by Levon Shaldjyan stating that my mother and I have been residing in Apartment #48, 8 Moskovyan Street since 1989. He also gave us a certificate that 'the certificate given to Arthur Mardoyan is void.'

It turns out that the condominium head has made yet another unsuccessful attempt: He offered our only shelter as a vacant area subject to sale to our neighbor for $35,000, without knowing, or just 'forgetting' about Paragraph 10 of the April 29, 1992 Government Decision #255 ( On measures to improve the social and economic conditions of refugees in the Republic of Armenia ), which instructs 'the executive committees of city and district councils of deputies, the Ministry of Interior, the Office of the Prosecutor General, all the ministries, agencies, the heads of enterprises, institutions and organizations to stop temporarily the eviction of refugees from hotels, sanatoriums, holiday homes, dormitories and other temporary dwellings unless it is done by a court decision or there is a proper document by a competent state body given in accordance with the law about the resettlement of a refugee to another domicile,'" Babadjanova adds.

For a few years now, the Babadjanovs have been trying to obtain justice. Their right to ownership of the residential area that they have lived in for 15 years has not yet been recognized by the courts, even though during the whole period of time the residents of this semi-basement have made all their public utility payments, and neighbors witness that no one besides the Babadjanovs has lived at this address.

There are witnesses and documented facts, but the courts of various instances keep passing the same verdict stipulating that the refugee family must vacate the apartment which is "someone else's property". Only recently was the family been spared visits by the officers of the Service of Mandatory Execution of Writs, when the Human Rights Ombudsman of Armenia became involved in this case. According to our latest information, the Ombudsman has sent the case to the anti-corruption department of the Office of the Prosecutor General, where not only the story of this family's sorrows, but also the planned murder of the Martirosyans is being thoroughly examined. This is especially welcome, as both scenarios were written by the same hand and played out at the same address.