Terror by Harutyunyan and Vardanyan in Karabakh's "grey zone" Regime critics fall victim to illegal gangs

"Gray zone". A territory beyond Baku's control. A lair of bandit formations. And all this is about the part of the Karabakh Economic Region which is in the zone of temporary responsibility of Russian peacekeepers. Even before the 44-day war, the separatist entity, where the "power" belonged to yesterday's militants, cruelly dealt with dissenters and those who had the courage and strength to stand up against the reign of lawlessness.

Here an unpleasant story of the former commander of the occupation contingent Samvel Babayan nicknamed "Samo" comes to mind immediately, whose helpers in the 90s and 2000s were travelling around Karabakh looking for girls for their boss. If the parents of the girls tried to complain about Babayan, they ended up in Shusha prison. Some parents would send their daughters to Yerevan to spare them from Babayan's greedy gaze. This is not fiction: Thomas de Waal wrote about this in his book "Black Garden" (Chapter 16).

The fighters of the separatist leaders, who were called "the Artsakh NSS", regularly brutally beat up those who tried to "demand their rights". At the same time, even the "deputies" were not spared by the junta. For example, more than once Hayk Khanumyan, who called himself "the head of the 'Revival' opposition faction of the Nagorno-Karabakh National Assembly," was beaten.

But even after 44 days of the war, the atrocities and lawlessness, and intimidation of the local population by the top brass of the gangs have not disappeared from the shrunken separatist territory. Anarchy still reigns there, and the trio in Khankendi, represented by Harutyunyan, Vardanyan, and Balasanyan are seized by severe anxiety, accompanied by a painful sense of imminent end. They had very little time left and still had a lot to steal, with the locals getting in the way.

This time the victim of the bandit regime was local activist Yuri Musaelyan, who had criticised the separatist top brass. Araik Harutyunyan's thugs burst into Musaelyan's house the other day and brutally beat him in front of his children and wife. The activist talked about what happened on social networks, showing the traces of beating on his face as evidence. As they say, the facts are obvious.

Commenting on Musaelyan's beating, Armenian blogger Roman Baghdasaryan wrote that the "authorities" in Karabakh were busy beating up their own people.

"In 'Artsakh' (inverted commas - Ed.) they tried to kill a critic of the 'authorities'. The victim says he was beaten up by thugs from Araik Harutyunyan's group. It is we who think that the 'Artsakh authorities' care about a blockade. They are busy beating their own people. They tried to kill a man in front of a child - you are worse than fascists! Shame on you!", Baghdasaryan wrote.

Meanwhile, Yuri Musaelyan said he's not going to give up and promised to hold a protest demonstration in the square in the centre of Khankendi on December 25. Local activists are going to join his action. Musaelyan stated that he will disclose the facts about how Araik Harutyunyan and his brother misappropriated some of the money that was owed as compensation to the families of those killed in the Second Karabakh War.

However, Yuri Musaelyan is not the only person, who experienced the methods of rigid forceful pressure of the separatists entrenched in Karabakh. Harutyunyan and Co. hold the inhabitants of this 'grey zone' in fear, virtually as hostages. Musaelyan is a public figure, and therefore what happened to him became widely known. It is not difficult to imagine what happens to ordinary residents of the "grey zone" who do not have social media accounts and numerous subscribers - after they open their mouths to express discontent, they are brutally beaten up.

In general, however, chaos reigns in the RPC's area of temporary responsibility. The arrival there of a "gauleiter" from Moscow, Ruben Vardanyan, has further worsened the situation of the locals. Harutyunyan, Vardanyan, and Balasanyan moved to open terror against local residents, who are de jure citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan. And this gives Baku every reason to interfere and impose constitutional and legal order on its territories. In this case, the separatist clique would do well to remember that Azerbaijan has not only the right but also the power to do so.