Jaromír Štětina, a Czech member of the European Parliament, has expressed support to Russian-Armenian businessman and benefactor Levon Hayrapetyan, who is originally from the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

“Levon is my friend since our youth years and we have crossed the Siberian rivers together. I’m concerned that he will end up like [Russian accountant and auditor Sergei] Magnitsky [whose arrest and subsequent death in custody generated international media attention and triggered both official and unofficial inquiries into allegations of fraud, theft, and human rights violations]. He [Hayrapetyan] is also seriously ill,” Štětina specifically wrote on his Facebook account.

As reported earlier, world-renowned French-Armenian singer, songwriter, actor, public activist, and diplomat Charles Aznavour likewise had expressed concern over Hayrapetyan’s arrest.   Aznavour had called upon the Russian authorities to commute Hayrapetyan’s restraining order of arrest, and in consideration of his health condition.  

Levon Hayrapetyan, 65, was detained in a Moscow airport on July 15 and subsequently arrested. On Thursday, July 24, the Russian Federation Investigation Committee brought two criminal charges against him; the charges are embezzlement or misuse, and money laundering.