Armenian Police Claims Regarding Murdered American-Armenian Philanthropist
Nazareth Berberian Groundless
[ 2009/07/15 | 12:22 ]
Armenian-American Philanthropist Nazareth Berberian went missing on
April 25, 2009 from his home in Yerevan, Armenia. His brutally
tortured and murdered body was recovered by the Armenian police on May
15, 2009, twenty-five kilometers outside the capital city of Yerevan.
Based on their findings, the Armenian police claim that Berberian was
murdered by a lone assailant who knew the victim, and that the murder
took place in the victim’s apartment on April 25, 2009.
In an interview with `HETQ’ on June 15 Ashot Karapetyan, Yerevan
Kentron Division Police Chief stated that the murder had nothing to do
with business, as previously suspected, but rather is a case of
robbery.
At this time, the true motive, actual time of death and persons behind
this senseless murder are unclear. An independent investigation of the
case in question has unearthed facts and evidence that contradict most
of the claims of the Armenian Police, published or unpublished. Once
the lab results of an autopsy conducted by Los Angeles County
Coroner’s Office are in, they will be compared with those provided by
the Republican Center For Forensic Medicine of Armenia’s Healthcare
Ministry, which conducted the first autopsy.
`Judging by the evidence we have been able to collect up until now,
there are strong indicators suggesting a cover-up by the Armenian
authorities,’ stated Ara Manoogian, a close friend of the victim and
the Berberian family’s legal representative in Armenia. `For one
thing, the date on all the documents provided by all Armenian legal
bodies state April 25, 2009 as the date of death. In most civilized
countries, the date of death when scientific tools are not available
to accurately measure how long the organs of the victim have not
functioned is the date the body was recovered. In this case, the date
of death should have been May 15, 2009,’ Manoogian concluded. `Since
the police do not want to investigate the possibility that Nazareth
was alive during all or part of the 20 days prior to their recovering
his body and possibly uncover facts that could lead to who is really
behind the murder, they close the case with their claims of his being
murdered in his home on the 25th of April. And their supporting
evidence for this claim is the testimony of the person who, the police
investigator, Ashot Kostanyan, told me, was beaten to get him to
confess to the crime.’
`Every Armenian who has any connection with Armenia, be they native or
Diasporan, has a vested interest to make sure that those who are
behind this crime are brought in front of a court of law to answer for
their actions, be it direct or indirect involvement in this crime, be
it committing or helping to cover it up,’ Manoogian warned. `If
justice is not served, then there will be many more such crimes
against persons like Nazareth, who was doing what he thought was
right, and that was to do his part to help our cultural homeland
develop into a democratically civil society and economically strong
nation,’ Manoogian said.
A memorial web site has been launched in the memory of Nazareth
Berberian. The site can be accessed at
Nazareth Berberian will be laid to rest on Saturday, July 25, 2009 at
10:30 a.m. at the Old North Church (commonly known as `red-brick
Church’) located at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park Hollywood Hills, 6300
Forest Lawn Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90068. For more information please
visit or write to [email protected]