Governor of Syunik Suren Khachatryan (right) converses with Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian at an official event.
GORIS, Armenia (RFE/RL)””Law-enforcement officials have questioned Suren Khachatrian, the controversial governor of Armenia’s Syunik province, in connection with a violent attack that was allegedly led by one of his sons, it emerged on Tuesday.
The May 2 incident in the regional town of Goris reinforced a widely held belief that Khachatrian and his equally violent relatives enjoy impunity thanks to their loyalty to President Serzh Sarkisian.
It left two Goris residents severely injured. The 32-year-old Harut Zakarian lost vision in one eye while his elder brother Mushegh suffered a broken nose after they were attacked by a large group of other men. They claim that the attackers were led by Khachatrian’s notorious son Tigran.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee, a law-enforcement agency investigating the assault, reluctantly interrogated the 21-year-old on May 16 amid a media and opposition uproar in Yerevan. But he was not detained or charged as a result. Nor have the investigators levelled accusations against anyone else so far.
According to an assistant to a lawyer for Suren Khachatrian, the Syunik governor insisted during the questioning that his son is innocent. “Tigran Khachatrian had no part in the incident. He only separated people,”
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