{"id":20533,"date":"2017-10-18T17:17:47","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T17:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/?p=20533"},"modified":"2017-10-18T17:17:47","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T17:17:47","slug":"armenian-businessman-and-philanthropist-levon-hayrapetyan-dies-in-russian-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/?p=20533","title":{"rendered":"Armenian Businessman and Philanthropist Levon Hayrapetyan Dies in Russian Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hayrapetyan Was Serving a Controversial Prison Sentence<\/h3>\n

MOSCOW (A.W.)\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009dArmenian businessman and philanthropist Levon Hayrapetyan, who contributed tens of millions of dollars to causes in Armenia, Artsakh, and the Armenian Diaspora, passed away in a Russian prison overnight on Oct. 18.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Levon Hayrapetian, seen here attending a court hearing in Moscow in 2015, died in a Russian prison on Oct. 18 (Photo: TASS)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

According to Hayrapetyan\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s daughter Angelika Hayrapetyan, the 68-year-old died in a prison cell in Mordovia.<\/p>\n

Hayrapetyan\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s health had been in decline for the past few years. In July 2014, he was detained by Russia\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Federal Security Service (FSB) upon his arrival at a Moscow airport. Hayrapetyan had gone to Moscow from Yerevan for medical treatment.<\/p>\n

Hayrapetyan\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s arrest and subsequent detention stemmed from suspicions of collusion and embezzlement around the 2009 sale of the oil company Bashneft. He was formally charged with receiving a $50 million fee as part of the Bashneft sale and was put under house arrest, all while he maintained his innocence and denied any wrongdoing. He was released in Sept. 2015 after the maximum period of house arrest had expired.<\/p>\n

In April of last year, Hayrapetyan was sentenced to a four-year prison term by a Moscow district court on charges of embezzlement. Hayrapetyan was found guilty of defrauding the mother of former Russian senator Igor Izmestyev\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009dwho is serving imprisonment for murder\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009dof $700,000. The court rejected an earlier motion for a seven-year prison term by the prosecution.<\/p>\n

Hayrapetyan\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s arrests and convictions are widely believed to have been a part of a politically-motivated campaign against prominent Russian businessmen. Following his 2016 conviction, factions of the National Assembly of Artsakh, as well as several prominent individuals and organizations in and out of Armenia, issued a statement urging Russian law enforcement bodies urging Hayrapetyan\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s release.<\/p>\n

Hayrapetyan\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009dsaid to be a citizen of Armenia, Russia, and the United States\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009dwas born in Vank in Artsakh\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Martakert district in 1949, where he invested millions of dollars improving the village\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s infrastructure and restoring the Gandzasar Cathedral (10-13th c.). He attended Yerevan State University and Moscow State University, after which he spent more than a decade working in the oil sector in Siberia. Hayrapetyan is believed to have amassed his fortune in the Russian energy privatization deals in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n

Hairapetian is perhaps best known for spearheading a mass wedding in Artsakh, which he co-sponsored with fellow Russian-Armenian businessmen. Some 700 couples were married in the ceremony, in an effort to encourage an increase in Artsakh\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s population. Hayrapetyan subsequently became a godfather to 250 newborns.<\/p>\n

\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Being a patriot and a faithful son of his people, Levon Hayrapetyan for many years carried out many charitable programs in Artsakh, contributing to the development of his home country. Strengthening the Armenian-Russian friendly relations was one of the main aspects of his activities,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d read a part of the statement, which cited the businessman\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s deteriorating health. Less than two weeks after his conviction, Hayrapetyan lost consciousness in a Moscow prison and was given emergency medical attention.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 18, Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan sent a letter of condolences to Hayrapetyan\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s family, which described him as a \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093great patriot and philanthropist,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d and a \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093devoted son of [the Armenian] people.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n

\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093On behalf of the Artsakh people, authorities and myself I express my deep condolences and sympathies to the family and relatives, compatriots, and friends of the deceased and wish them patience and fortitude. The memory of Levon Hayrapetyan will always remain bright in the memory of generations,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d read a part of Sahakyan\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s letter.<\/p>\n

The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tigran Balayan described Hayrapetyan as a \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093great son of the Armenian people\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d and an \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093exemplary patriot\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d on Twitter. \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093May he rest in peace. We will never forget Levon Gurgenovich and his legacy,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d Balayan wrote in Russian according to RFE\/RL\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Armenian service.<\/p>\n

According to\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0 Hayrapetyan\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s latest wishes, he will be buried in Moscow, next to his parents, at his family tomb.<\/p>\n

armenianweekly.com<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hayrapetyan Was Serving a Controversial Prison Sentence MOSCOW (A.W.)\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009dArmenian businessman and philanthropist Levon Hayrapetyan, who contributed tens of millions of dollars to causes in Armenia, Artsakh, and the Armenian Diaspora, passed away in a Russian […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20533"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}