Vartan Oskanian's son arrested on kidnapping charges
Ara Oskanian, the son of former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, was arrested on February 17 on charges of kidnapping a man who owed him AMD 1.5 million, the Investigative Committee reports. A criminal case was initiated on Friday based on the report of citizen N. Berberyan who said he had been kidnapped and held hostage by his friend H. Siradaryan, and the latter’s cousin, A. Oskanian, who demanded payment. On Feb. 16, the two men met Berberyan, forced into a car and drove him to Abovyan town (in Kotayk marz), threatening to inflict damages to his health if he refused to pay the debt. Siradaryan and Oskanian were detained on Friday and were charged under Article 133 (Part 2) of the Criminal Code (illegal deprivation of freedom). However, they refused to give a testimony. An investigation into the details is underway. Vartan Oskanian has recently announced his plan to run for parliament in the April 2 elections as a member of a joint political alliance called Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian.
