Mr. Gagik Jhangiryan is a well known and influential person especially in the Judiciary and Military Circles. Apparently his support of the opposition as well as his professional skills and institutional knowledge were considered by Authorities as highly dangerous.

Mr. Gagik Jahangirian was arrested along with his brother Vartan Jahangiryan and two other companions on Saturday 23.02.08 just hours after being sacked by President Robert Kocharian. A car carrying the two men was ambushed and violently stopped by about 40 masked men in black, without any insignia, just outside Yerevan. The police said they were carrying illegal arms.” Vartan Jahangiryan was shot and seriously wounded by a police officer during the arrest in still unclear circumstances. The police say the shooting was accidental. Vartan Jahangiryan is accused of putting up resistance to law-enforcers. Here we must underline that Vartan Jhangiryan have very serious illness of spine, recently has undergone  a special treatment, at the time of arrest was in medical corset  and moved with difficulty, often only with the help of others.

The sacking of Gagik Jhangiryan came the day after the former chief military prosecutor delivered a speech at a Ter-Petrosyan rally in Yerevan in which he called the official results of the February 19 presidential election fraudulent and said the ex-president is the rightful winner of the vote. During his speech he also mentioned that there are new evidences in the case of October 1999 assassinations in Armenia’s parliament, when 8 prominent politicians including Karen Demirchyan, Speaker of the National Assembly and Vazgen Sargsyan, Prime Minister, were killed, which can spread light on the real cause of that tragic events. It must be mentioned that any reference to that assassination is very painful and disturbing for those who are in power now in Armenia.

After the arrest Jahangirian was visited in custody by Ms. Zaruhi Postanjian, a well-known lawyer and parliament deputy affiliated with the opposition Zharangutyun party, speaking to RFE/RL, condemned the case against the former prosecutor as “political persecution.”

After four months investigators of the criminal case in connection with the mass disturbances of March 1-2 have dropped the charge of ‘illegal arms  possession’ against former Deputy Prosecutor-General Gagik Jahangirian, but on June 13 added to his indictment a graver charge of ‘usurpation of power’ that also includes putting up resistance to law-enforcement officers. Jahangirian’s lawyers express their perplexity over the circumstance that it took the investigation body four months to admit that the gun carried by Jahangirian was in fact legal. They say this decision is one more evidence that Gagik Jahangirian is “being a victim of political persecution for having a speech at an opposition rally.”

Later, on On August 13 charges in accordance with this Article 300 were dripped by the accusing side.

The hysterically prompt arrest of Jhangiryan was done with numerous violations of Criminal Procedural and Criminal Codes, other Laws of RA and principles of Human Rights Law:

Thus, for example:

-         His dismissal from his post of Deputy General Prosecutor and stripping of his Rank of the First Grade State Counselor of Justice immediately after his public speech at opposition meeting was done with violation of appropriate laws and procedures, and currently is being contested in the Administrative Court.

-         Jhangiryan brothers were taken into custody on the basis of oral order of the chiefs of 6th drpartment and special forces of the Ministry of Interior. 

-         Arresting officers didn’t announce their identity and didn’t explain the reason of the arrest, which apparently arose after the arrest and the search of Jhangiryan’s car.

-         The use of arms by police during the arrest was obviously disproportionate, since there wasn’t any resistance: Mr. Vartan Jhangiryan due to his health was even unable to resist, such charge against Gagik Jhangiryan has appeared much later,

-         Furthermore, Jhangiryan brothers were severely beaten as soon as they were brought to the Police, they received numerous injuries, but regardless the demand of Gagik Jhangiryan, forensic medical examination has not been conducted and the fact of beating was not registered

-         Charges, which were afterwards announced as a basis for the arrest, were from the very beginning and obviously ungrounded, since Mr. Jhangiryan lawfully possess arms and those who gave an order to charge him for the illegal possession of arms, as well as those who executed that order were perfectly well aware of that fact

-         Charges were officially presented to Jhangiyan brothers with the violation of time deadline envisaged by Law for four hours.

-         By dropping those charges which were announced as the reason of Gagik Jhangiryan detention, Law enforcement authorities confirmed there wrongdoing.

-         Jhangiryans were arrested without the required order.

-         Vartan Jhangiryan is facing charges under CC RA Article 316, Violence against a representative of authorities, while it is proved that at the moment of the arrest he was unable to move without help.

-         Vartan Jhangiryan was left bleeding without medical assistance for about two hours after he was brought to Police which is a clear example of inhuman treatment aimed at exerting pressure on suspects, particularly on Gagik Jhangiryan.

-         During the all period of pre-trial detention Mr. Gagik Jhangiryan has never been tried, no proves of his guilt were presented.

-         Accusation accordance to the Article 316 is based solely on the testimony of the Police.

-         All motions of defence lawyers concerning the alteration of the restraint measure were rejected by the court without substantively grounded formal and legal reasons.

All these and many other facts prove that the arrest Mr.Gagik Jhangiryan was commissioned by Authorities and is politically motivated. Vartan Jhangiryan simply appeared to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.