The studies carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office of Ararat Marz of RA show that the crimes committed in the area of ​​”Khor Virap” monastic complex have increased significantly recently. This was reported by the press service of the General Prosecutor’s Office.

In particular, in 2017 On October 1, a case of sexual violence against a citizen of the People’s Republic of China who visited the “Khor Virap” monastery complex in the area called “Wild Animal Rescue Center” in the administrative area of ​​Urtsadzor village of Ararat marz was recorded. A criminal case was initiated under Article 139, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code. In 2017, with the combination of sufficient evidence obtained as a result of other investigative and judicial activities during the preliminary investigation. On October 5, RA citizen K.T. was charged under Article 139, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code for committing acts of a sexual nature by using violence against a citizen of the People’s Republic of China against her will. The criminal case is currently under trial.

In addition, in 2018 on February 12, cases of attempted robbery of foreign tourists were also recorded. In particular, citizen A. D. approached two citizens of the UAE separately in the territory of the “Khor Virap” monastic complex, with the intention of committing an open theft of someone else’s property, showing them his Armenian-Russian Cossack unification certificate, and presented himself as a police officer. Making it clear by gestures that he wanted to subject the tourists to a personal search, he accompanied them in one case to the wall of the church, in the other case to the toilet on the territory of the church, after examining them, he took out considerable sums of money from their pockets and wallets, then, adjusting the moment, he tried to openly steal all the money and ran away. However, in both cases, he did not complete the crimes due to reasons beyond his control. in one case the tourist managed to catch him and took all the money back and left, in the other case the citizen was caught by church visitors.

On 12.02.2018, in Vedi’s investigative department, According to part 1 of Article 34-176 of the RA Criminal Code, two criminal cases were initiated, which were joined in one proceeding. On the same day, A.D. was arrested and gave a confession during interrogation as a suspect. 2018 on February 15, he was charged with 2 counts under Article 34-176, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code, and on the same day, detention was chosen as a preventive measure against him. On February 20, the prosecutor’s office of the Ararat region of RA received the criminal case with an indictment.

Taking into account the fact that the commission of such criminal acts in spiritual centers representing tourist attraction causes significant damage to the tourist reputation of RA and may lead to a decrease in the flow of tourists, therefore there is an urgent need to exclude crimes committed against visitors and tourists, to take measures to eliminate the circumstances contributing to the commission of crimes, Prosecutor of Ararat Marz, RA Sevak Hovhannisyan submitted a petition to the head of the Ararat Regional Department of the RA Police.

The prosecutor of the region, in particular, noted the need to provide a sufficient number of police officers to deploy a permanent police base in the area of ​​the complex, which is one of the important stops on the southern tourist route of RA, and to carry out proper surveillance.