Still no clarity on senior Armenian police officer's murder case

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Deputy chief of Armenia’s police Colonel Gevorg Mherian, 34 was shot dead just outside his apartment in Yerevan late on February 3.  President Serzh Sarkisian on Thursday strongly condemned Mheryan’s murder, hinting it may have had to do with his anti-corruption activities.

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Picture of Mheryan murder suspect on Aravot Newspaper, February 6 issue

A generated photo of the suspect has been published by some Armenian newspapers yesterday. Armenian police confirmed that publicized picture is their probable suspect – constructed based on eyewitness accounts, although nobody has been arrested in connection with the killing yet.
Mheryan was heading the passport and visa departments of the police as well as the legal support department.
The passport and visa departments are notorious for their level of corruption and last year a range of high ranking officials from those departments were fired, apparently as a result of Mheryan’s activities.
Admittedly, this murder has caused quite a stirring, I have been getting emails and enquiries from Armenian friends living abroad, asking what’s the story. Well – if you’re asking my opinion – it looks more like vendetta or a trivial case, rather than a big case of corrupt criminals facing the good guys, but media have been paying a disproportionately large amount of attention to this case, perhaps because of lack of any other development in the country. I don’t know. RIP to Mheryan – that’s all I can say for now, hoping for more clarity in the near future.

Artur Papyan

Journalist, blogger, digital security and media consultant

5 Comments

  1. Thanks Arthur! I hope I can get always updated info in your blog on different developments in Armenia!

  2. What do you think the chances are that whoever is behind this will get caught?

  3. Yes, I do. The thing is – the experience of the past years wouldn’t give me any reason for this. However, with this particular case, everything seems different. I don’t even know how to explain – there’s just something strange about this whole thing.

  4. […] and dismissals in the government body, the blog says the motives for Mheryan's murder remain unclear and confusing. Admittedly, this murder has caused quite a stirring, I have been getting emails and enquiries […]

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