Expert: Gagik Tsarukyan embodies post-Soviet model of big  business-state relations; this model is used in many other  post-Soviet countries

ArmInfo. Gagik Tsarukyan embodies the post-Soviet model of relations between big business and political power, and this model is used in many other post-Soviet countries, as stated by Tigran Grigoryan, head of the Regional Center for Democracy and Security. He made the remark during a July 3 panel discussion focusing on the country's current political situation. 

"We all remember the agreements that existed with big business during  Putin's first term, and what happened when Khodorkovsky violated  those agreements. Now, I think a very similar process is taking  place, and Gagik Tsarukyan's own biography shows that little has  changed in this regard since the revolution. We all remember that  conflict with Serzh Sargsyan over constitutional amendments. We  remember that after the revolution, there was even a time when  criminal cases were resumed at a certain point. In other words, a  period of political activation is once again accompanied by a period  of politicized and selective justice," the expert said.

Tigran Grigoryan noted that the individual involved is secondary,  adding that while Gagik Tsarukyan's background can certainly be  debated. " Of course, if one wishes, illegal actions can always be  found. The key principle here is this: when the ruling authority has  the capacity to arbitrarily and selectively deploy the judicial  system to achieve its own personal goals, it means there is no  justice in the country."