(RFE / RL) An army general and two other senior Defense Ministry Armenian officials have been arrested in the course of investigations on corruption.
General Melsik Chilingarian was arrested Monday night, ten days after having been dismissed from his post of head of department at the Ministry of Armaments. He supports the storage processing, maintenance and repair of arms and ammunition provided to the Armenian armed forces.
Colonel Armen Markarian, one of the subordinates Chilingarian, was also arrested. He was in charge of the vehicles used by the military. Markarian had also been dismissed early May.
The Investigation Committee of Armenia said that the two men are suspected of abuse of power, which would have “serious consequences.”
The third suspect, Colonel Mher Papian had an important position in the Defense Ministry department responsible for arms purchases. He was arrested as part of a separate investigation by the Commission of Inquiry. The agency enforcement explained that Papian faces prosecution for his “careless attitude toward military service.” “
Moreover, it is recalled that in late April, President Serzh Sargsyan had sacked Deputy Defense Minister Alik Mirzabekian and General Arshak Karapetyan, head of military intelligence, and General Komitas Muradian, commander of communication units the Armenian army.
These dismissals took place three weeks after the outbreak of fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh. A pro-government member was assigned to the “gaps” in the response of the Armenian army in the Azerbaijani offensive.
The inquiry committee has declined to say whether Monday’s arrests also have a connection with this offensive in Karabakh.
The “four-day war” has raised questions about the fact that the Armenian army was not aware of the attack before it occurs. Critics have also suggested that frontline troops lacked adequate modern weapons and other military equipment when they were attacked.
Claire © armenews.com