Artak Gasparyan, who was forcibly displaced from Artsakh, after moving to Armenia, found himself in the tussles of the departments. 37-year-old Artak Gasparyan says this in a conversation with Forrights.am.
Some time after arriving to Armenia, he was invited to the Investigative Committee on the issue of trees cut in Artsakh and noted that the criminal case is now under the proceedings of the RA Criminal Investigation Department.
“I had permission to cut trees from the forest in Artsakh, in Nng community. They came from forestry and wrote down which trees I should cut. According to their decision, I cut the trees, brought them to our yard, it was according to the law, I paid for them. Then the forest guard came and said why did you enter the forest. I had a check, I showed it. A criminal case was initiated in Artsakh, then it was transferred to Armenia,” says Artak and notes that he had to pay a fine in Armenia for cutting down trees in the now occupied Artsakh.
“They called me from the investigative office here. They called and said that I have to pay 28 thousand drams as a penalty. I paid and the case was closed,” he says.
Artak is from the Nngi community, a contract soldier, a participant in combat operations.
After the IC case was closed, he faced problems in another department, the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Artak’s car was towed on the grounds of not having a driver’s license.
“I was deprived of my driver’s license in Artsakh, but then they applied amnesty and I Could drive a car. I came here and the system here shows that I am deprived of driver’s license. I ask why it is so, they don’t answer. Now they are starting another criminal case here, accusing that I drove a car without a driver’s license. They took my car to Gyumri, to the penalty area. The car was taken from me on May 16,” he says.
The car was the only valuable property that Artak was able to bring with him from Artsakh. He was forcibly displaced on September 29, 2023, along with his parents and brother’s family. Now he lives in the city of Masis of RA. He found a job in Yerevan, but due to the lack of a car, he faced the problem of getting to the capital.
“I used to go to work and come home with that car. I got a job in Yerevan, at Grant Tobacco,” he says and turns to another issue: he notes that they don’t give him a new passport in Armenia.
“They don’t even give me a passport: they say that there is a ban on me, but I don’t know why. I ask why you deprived me of my passport, the person looks at me and does not answer. My passport has expired, I gave them the old one, but they don’t give me the new one; they say it’s been banned,” he says.
Forrights.am applied to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to find out why Artak Gasparyan’s car was taken to the penalty area when the ban on his driver’s license was lifted in Stepanakert, and why they did not issue a new passport. The department has not provided an explanation yet. Forrights.am will be consistent that Artak Gasparyan’s problems with state departments get solutions.
Narek Kirakosyan
Narek Kirakosyan
Narek Kirakosyan is a journalist, works on the principle of "a person is an absolute value".