Interfax, Russia
Russia & CIS General Newswire
February 24, 2008 Sunday 12:28 PM MSK

Ex-deputy prosecutor-general detained in Armenia – police

YEREVAN Feb 24

Police in Armenia have confirmed the detention of former Deputy
Prosecutor General Gagik Dzhangirian, who has joined opposition
forces, his brother Vardan and his driver.

The Dzhangirian brothers were detained after the department for
combating organized crime received intelligence that weapons were
being carried in the Dzhangirian brothers’ two cars from Echmiadzin
to Yerevan, police told Interfax.

Shots were fired when the cars were being blocked and two police
officers and Vardan Dzhangirian sustained wounds. The injuries are
not life-threatening.

Four pistols and a hunting rifle, as well as a bullet-proof jacket
and handcuffs, were discovered in the cars. Checks are being
conducted to find out whether the Dzhangirian brothers possessed the
weapons legally, police spokesman Sayat Shirinian told Interfax.

The press service of former presidential candidate Levon Ter-
Petrosian’s campaign earlier informed Interfax that the two brothers
had been stopped by unidentified men wearing masks and taken in an
unknown direction.

Dzhangirian’s car was stopped at about 10 p.m. on Saturday, local
time, on the Yerevan-Echmiadzin highway not far from Yerevan, the
campaign said.

Dzhangirian said at a rally on Friday that he had joined the
opposition led by Armenia’s First President Ter-Petrosian and urged
the rally to help clear up the terror attack carried out on October
27, 1999. Shortly after his statement the deputy prosecutor general
was suspended and on Saturday was dismissed by the prosecutor general
and stripped of his rank as a lawyer.

On October 27, 1999, five terrorists gunned down the Armenian prime
minister, parliamentary speaker, two deputy speakers, a minister and
three deputies in the parliament building. Eight other people were
wounded. The investigation and the trial lasted for three years and
all of the suspected terrorists received a life sentence. Dzhangirian
was then chief military prosecutor and was in charge of the
investigation.

Presidential elections were held in Armenia on February 19. Prime
Minister Serzh Sargsyan was elected president. Ter-Petrosian and his
supporters declared the election rigged and launched rallies, marches
and pickets. The terror attack in the parliament is often cited
during rallies. Ter-Petrosian and his supporters blame former
President Robert Kocharian and Sargsyan for the killings.