Police released president of Narekatsi Art Union.

President of Narekatsi Art Union Narek Hartunian has been released after his investigator changed the decision to use arrest as a measure of restraint.

Ani Mnatsakanyan and Arthur Galstyan, the deputy director and the chief accountant of the GH Storage Company who had been arrested together with Hartunian, have been released too. 

Narek Hartunian, together with his colleagues, had been arrested on December 9 and was accused of evading taxes in more than 100 million drams (approx. $280,000). 

Following Hartunian’s arrest, his brother issued a statement in which he said that Hartunyan never evaded paying taxes. 

Later, Lernik Hovhannisyan, his lawyer, unveiled the true pretext of the arrest. Hovhannisyan claimed that Hartunian, who owned 34% of shares of the Yerevan Watch Factory, had refused an offer by Franck Muller Company to sell all his shares.