The Hrachya Harutyunyan Affair: The Straw that Broke the Camel’s [or in this case the Bear’s] back?

Recently, the Russian Federation, a “traditional ally” of Armenia in the face of threats from Turkey and Azerbaijan, took specific and concrete steps which gave rise to a vast number of Armenians both in Armenia and the Diaspora to ask whether the relationship between the “allies” should be revisited and reevaluated.

In the month of June, Russia completed a big arms delivery worth about $1 billion to Azerbaijan, a regime of de facto hereditary dictatorship and a human rights violator. At the same time, Azerbaijan is also Republic of Armenia’s and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s arch-enemy who threatens the aforementioned dual Armenian homelands with war and destruction almost on a daily basis. According to Reuters, this Russian arms package included “nearly 100 T-90C tanks, Smerch and TOS-1A multiple rocket launchers and Msta-A and Vena artillery cannons.” For reference, the T-90C tanks are currently the most modern tanks available to the Russian Armed Forces and the remainder of the package is yet another addition to Azerbaijan’s arsenal which can be used to unleash a second campaign of death and destruction against the populations of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh.

In yet another blow to the often bragged-about traditionally “friendly” Armenian-Russian relationship, ArmRusGazProm, a joint venture between the Ministry of Energy of Armenia and the Russian companies Gazprom and Itera, announced that it will increase the price of natural gas for the Armenian consumers. To be exact, according to ARKA News Agency, “on June 7, the Armenia’s public services regulatory commission increased the gas price for customers consuming up to 10,000 cubic meters from 132,000 drams (including VAT) to 156,000 drams (including VAT) per 1,000 cubic meters as from July 7.” As the Armenian Prime Minister admitted in a recent interview, such an increase in gas prices will have major implications for Armenia. However, shortly thereafter, the Armenian Government and the Russian side launched negotiations to increase the latter’s ownership stake in ArmRusGazProm from 80% to 100% in exchange for lowering the gas price for the consumers. This move, was labeled by many as yet another bullying tactic employed by the Russian Government, especially considering the fact that the price hike followed an earlier Gazprom announcement that the gas prices for the European consumers will fall by 10%. In other words, sooner than later, Armenian consumers can be paying more for natural gas than the residents of Western European countries.

Surprisingly, while the abovementioned incidents have had major geo-political implications for Armenia and Russia, the plight of Hrachya Harutyunyan, a poverty-stricken Armenian migrant worker has reignited the calls for revisiting the Armenian-Russian relations. In a tragic accident which happened on July 13, 2013, Hrachya Harutyunyan, a truck-driver whose truck swerved into a bus in the Podolsk Village of Russia, killing 18 and wounding 60, became central to the Armenia-Russia relationship. In court, Hrachya was accused of violating traffic rules and causing the deaths of two or more people.

While the responsible party should be held accountable for this tragic incident, it was Hrachya Harutyuny’s outrageous treatment by the Russian authorities which caused the uproar within the Armenian public. Hrachya Harutyunyan, a middle-aged man, was brought to the court dressed in a woman’s colorful bathrobe. If Mr. Harutyunyan, per his own cognizance walked into the court wearing a similar outfit, he would have certainly been reprimanded and punished for such an outlandish behavior. The images of a humiliated and disgraced citizen of Armenia went viral on the World Wide Web and generated calls of protest and retaliation, as well as demands for explanations from the Russian authorities. Even more significant, Hrachya’s treatment by the Russian authorities caused the Armenian public to protest at the Russian Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, a truly rare incident by any measure.

While it is given that a guilty party must be held accountable for his or her actions in a fair trial, it is universally known and accepted that even those who are accused of the most heinous crimes have certain rights. While remaining innocent until proven guilty is the bedrock of most systems of justice, the protection of one’s dignity is yet another important right which ought to be enjoyed by the accused.

The Russian authorities responsible for this type of outrageous treatment of Hrachya Harutyunyan, a citizen of their only remaining “ally” in the South Caucasus must be held accountable by the Russia’s leadership. While Russian authorities may be pandering to the Russia’s ultra-nationalist elements by treating Hrachya Harutyunyan in such disgraceful manner, both for the short term and in a long run, they are planting potent seeds of anti-Russian sentiments among the Armenians of Republic of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and the Diaspora.

It is noteworthy that the outpour of outrage against Hrachya’s treatment by the Russian authorities was not only unified and across the board as to the pundits and politicians of various background, but the uproar was led by the young generation of Armenians. Thus, for many years to come, the anti-Russian sentiments will not only remain intact, but will also exacerbate unless the Russian Government, at its highest levels, takes concrete steps to rectify the damage.

First and foremost, Russia must supply Armenia with superior defensive and offensive weapons so to curb Azerbaijan’s hunger for war and destruction in the region and to reassure Armenia of Russia’s allegiance. Second, Russia must reevaluate its energy policy vis-à-vis Armenia as its current policy not only hurts its ally financially, but it can and eventually should lead to Armenia reevaluating its future relations with Russia.

Lastly, every human being, regardless of its race, age, or sex must be granted the human rights afforded to him by laws of the land or nature. Hrachya’s outrageous and publicized treatment by the Russian authorities was a reminder of Russia’s poor human rights record and rampant corruption which Russia’s leadership have fought against for many years. By publicly and officially holding the responsible individuals to answer for their shameful behavior against Hrachya, the Russian authorities can at least rectify some of the damage which has been caused.

No one has a right to disgrace a citizen of Armenia. And unless the Russian authorities discipline the rogue elements within their justice system responsible for outrageous treatment of Hrachya Harutyunyan, this latest incident can be the straw that breaks the camel’s [or in this case the bear’s] back.

Aroutin Hartounian
President
Unified Young Armenians (UYA)