Armenian President's Bodyguard Accused Of Manslaughter By Misadventure

A charge of manslaughter by misadventure was leveled against Agamal Arutyunyan, one of the guards of the Armenian president. He is facing an imprisonment of up to three years for killing Georgia's citizen Pogos Pogosyan, which was done, in the opinion of law enforcement bodies of the republic, by misadventure. The extreme zeal of security guards cost one of the guests of Yerevan's popular jazz club Aragast his life. At this club the head of state and well-known crooner Charles Aznavour as his guest were listening on the night of September 24 to one of the renowned jazz bands in the country. Pogosyan, who was in the cafe on the same night, allowed himself some liberties with the distinguished guests. At first the guards simply pushed off the troublesome jazz lover, but a few minutes later after Kocharyan and Aznavour left the cafe, the guards came back, took Pogosyan to a toilet and continued to "educate" him there, with the result that Pogosyan died on the spot. The guards' victim was not a mere citizen of Georgia, but one of the leaders of the local branch of the Armenian revolutionary federation /Dashnaktsutyun/. Following the incident, which was widely reported, Kocharyan dismissed the body guards from their duties. A criminal case was opened. This is not the first time when absolutely innocent people fall victim to arbitrariness of body guards protecting high-ranking persons. Last year, a guard of the Armenian parliamentary speaker, having seen off his boss on a foreign tour, killed a resident of the Armenian capital who happened to turn up at that moment. The guard did not escape justice - he was sentenced to three years.