Arthur Vanetsyan: During my leadership, the NSS did not carry out a  political order

ArmInfo.. During my leadership, the NSS did not carry out a political order and did not look for dissenters, as it is now. Former head of the National Security  Service Arthur Vanetsyan stated in an interview with reporters,  referring to the current situation in the country.

According to Vanetsyan, the criminal prosecution of leader of the  Prosperous Armenia party Gagik Tsarukyan is a political order, and  the law enforcement authorities could not present even a minimal  amount of accusatory substantiation when submitting a request for his  arrest to court. 

In this regard, as Vanetsyan noted, a preventive measure in the form  of arrest was not applied against Tsarukyan. The ex- head of the NSS  also touched upon constitutional amendments approved by parliament,  describing what happened as a "constitutional revolution", which  poses a threat to the country's security. In this regard, Vanetsyan  called on the parties that could oppose this process to unite.  However, as regards political cooperation, the "Hayrenik"  ("Homeland", Ed. note) party headed by him, Vanetsyan did not voice  any details, without failing to notice that although the media spread  rumors about the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between his  party and the PAP, the political forces themselves did not confirm  this nor denied.  

<We are actively communicating with our partners regarding resolving  issues of concern and the possibility of speaking on a united front.  In the case of a clear decision on cooperation of participating  parties, the public will be informed>, he said.  Vanetsyan also  denied the rumors that Russia and other countries exerted pressure on  the NSS. As it was emphasized, we can only talk about partnerships  with the special services of foreign countries.  

It should be noted that on September 16, 2019, Arthur Vanetsyan  resigned from the post of head of the National Security Serviceof  Armenia, after which an exchange of courtesies took place between him  and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan. In  particular, Vanetsyan criticized the policy of the authorities, and  Pashinyan said that he "threw epaulettes into the trash can" with his  statements. In April of the current year, Prime Minister's press  secretary Mane Gevorgyan announced the participation of Vanetsyan and   former President Serzh Sargsyan's son-in-law Mikael Minasyan in  corruption schemes. So, according to her, Vanetsyan acquired shares  of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine with an obvious abuse of  power and with the help of false shareholders.  Vanetsyan denied this  information, recognizing only the fact that his father runs a company  that transports ore to the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine.