ArmInfo. The criminal passions in the fight for the positions of heads of Armenian communities do not subside. Another incident involving Arkady Peleshyan, mayoral candidate from the Armenian Rebirth Party, has occurred in Vanadzor.
According to witnesses, on Tuesday evening Peleshyan attacked Rafael Grigoryan, the Primate of the Vanadzor Diocese of the Armenian Evangelical Church, under the influence of intoxicants. One of Grigoryan's assistants has told ArmInfo on condition of anonymity that Peleshyan was also trying to fire at the hand and leg of Grigoryan from a firearm, and then Peleshyan severely beat . It is noteworthy that during the incident the members of Grigoryan's family were in the building of the Vanadzor Diocese of the Armenian Evangelical Church. There were also foreign guests there. However, they failed to prevent the incident. Only after the racket raised by the members of Grigoryan's family, the neighbors and other relatives came to help Grigoryan and Peleshyan left the building together with his teammates. The cause of the incident was the mayoral candidate's discontent with the fact that Grigoryan and the churchgoers gave their votes in favor of the Republican Party of Armenia allegedly at the instigation of Deputy Chief of Armenian Police Anubagh Hambaryan.
A criminal case has been instituted. Peleshyan is wanted. The police are deciphering the data of the surveillance cameras in the site of the incident and adjacent areas.
Similar incidents occurred in Sevan and Gyumri in the run-up to the local elections. On October 1, a scuffle occurred between the supporters of Sargis Muradyan, the recently elected mayor of Sevan (supported by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia) and the supporters of Muradyan's opponents. The residents of Sevan say that scuffles organized by Muradyan's supporters were registered throughout the period of the electoral campaign. Criminal cases have been instituted over some of the incidents.
Previously, a tragic incident was registered in Gyumri. According to the official story, during the electoral campaign Arshak, the son of Vardevan Grigoryan, mayoral candidate from the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), committed a suicide. However, the PAP is rather skeptical about the official story.