“Stop treating people like donkeys!” TRIBUNAL supports the questions of an oppositionist to Serzh Sargsyan and Nikol Pashinyan
Oppositionist Arthur Hambartsoumyan has voiced quite interesting questions to Serzh Sargsyan on the YouTube Channel “Say No to Lie” (arm. — “Ո՛չ ստին”):
- How is it that, on October 15 and 20, 2020, former President Serzh Sargsyan and incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan both invoked the phrase “Separation in the name of salvation”? Sargsyan used the expression in a letter addressed to Donald Tusk, President of the European People’s Party, while Pashinyan echoed the same phrase in an interview with the French newspaper Libération. Was this a coordinated move—or just a coincidence?
- 2. What lies behind Serzh Sargsyan’s 2016 decision to appoint Georgy Kutoyan as Head of the National Security Service (NSS), in clear contradiction of the laws of the Republic of Armenia?
Watch the full details in the video:
Reference: Georgy Kutoyan was appointed as Director of the NSS RA by Serzh Sargsyan in 2016, in violation of the requirements of Article 19.1 of the RA Law On the Service in the National Security Bodies.
“An officer of the national security bodies may be appointed head of the state authorized body if, prior to the appointment, they held a senior group position or, within the last three years, occupied key roles within the national security bodies and held a rank no lower than colonel.”
Prior to his appointment as Director of the NSS, Georgy Kutoyan neither held a senior group position nor occupied any key role within the national security bodies in the preceding three years. Additionally, he did not hold a rank equivalent to or higher than colonel.
In May 2018, when introducing the newly-appointed Director of the NSS, Arthur Vanetsyan, to the key personnel of the National Security Service, Nikol Pashinyan thanked the former Director of the NSS Georgy Kutoyan, and the employees of the system for exerting all possible efforts during the “velvet” revolution.
"The world is genuinely surprised and even admiring of how political changes in our country took place without a single drop of blood being shed—without serious clashes or casualties. People wonder how, after such a transformation, it is love and solidarity—not revenge—that prevail in the country. Each of us has contributed to this process, and the role of the NSS has been far from secondary," the Prime Minister said.
Approximately a year and a half after his resignation, Georgy Kutoyan was found dead on January 17, 2020, in an apartment in a newly constructed residential building on Paruyr Sevak Street in Yerevan. According to the investigation, Kutoyan died by suicide.
In an article published on January 18, 2020, 7or.am questioned the official version of events presented by the investigation.
The law enforcement authorities under Nikol Pashinyan opened a case under the article of “incitement to suicide.” But how can they be certain it was a suicide—and who, then, incited it? Perhaps this particular charge was chosen deliberately to muddy the waters.
The former NSS Director Georgy Kutoyan rarely appeared in public, but by virtue of his position, he knew a great deal—especially about Nikol Pashinyan.
For instance, he knew how it happened that, shortly after the armed attack on the Patrol and Inspection Service regiment, Nikol Pashinyan appeared on the scene fully prepared and went live on air—without encountering any resistance from “Sasna Tsrer.” Kutoyan was well aware of Pashinyan’s connections with “Sasna Tsrer,” including episodes that remain unknown to the public.
Furthermore, Pavlik Manukyan was the only member of “Sasna Tsrer” who once declared that Nikol should be thrown into the garbage bin. Today, Pavlik is no longer among Zhirayr’s supporters.
Everyone familiar with the inner workings of domestic politics knows that Nikol Pashinyan was a client of the former authorities. That’s precisely how he managed to become part of the “Way Out” Alliance (Arm. — “Yelq”), a project backed by those very authorities. Evidently, Georgy Kutoyan knew far more about all this.
Kutoyan served as Director of the National Security Service throughout the “velvet” revolution. There’s little doubt he knew who was backing Nikol’s march, what stood behind it all, and much more.
