ArmInfo.. During my leadership, the NSS did not carry out a political order and did not look for dissenters, as it is now. Former head of the National Security Service Arthur Vanetsyan stated in an interview with reporters, referring to the current situation in the country.
According to Vanetsyan, the criminal prosecution of leader of the Prosperous Armenia party Gagik Tsarukyan is a political order, and the law enforcement authorities could not present even a minimal amount of accusatory substantiation when submitting a request for his arrest to court.
In this regard, as Vanetsyan noted, a preventive measure in the form of arrest was not applied against Tsarukyan. The ex- head of the NSS also touched upon constitutional amendments approved by parliament, describing what happened as a "constitutional revolution", which poses a threat to the country's security. In this regard, Vanetsyan called on the parties that could oppose this process to unite. However, as regards political cooperation, the "Hayrenik" ("Homeland", Ed. note) party headed by him, Vanetsyan did not voice any details, without failing to notice that although the media spread rumors about the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between his party and the PAP, the political forces themselves did not confirm this nor denied.
<We are actively communicating with our partners regarding resolving issues of concern and the possibility of speaking on a united front. In the case of a clear decision on cooperation of participating parties, the public will be informed>, he said. Vanetsyan also denied the rumors that Russia and other countries exerted pressure on the NSS. As it was emphasized, we can only talk about partnerships with the special services of foreign countries.
It should be noted that on September 16, 2019, Arthur Vanetsyan resigned from the post of head of the National Security Serviceof Armenia, after which an exchange of courtesies took place between him and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan. In particular, Vanetsyan criticized the policy of the authorities, and Pashinyan said that he "threw epaulettes into the trash can" with his statements. In April of the current year, Prime Minister's press secretary Mane Gevorgyan announced the participation of Vanetsyan and former President Serzh Sargsyan's son-in-law Mikael Minasyan in corruption schemes. So, according to her, Vanetsyan acquired shares of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine with an obvious abuse of power and with the help of false shareholders. Vanetsyan denied this information, recognizing only the fact that his father runs a company that transports ore to the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine.