The ex-chief of the Armenian police, Colonel-General Hayk Harutyunyan has refuted the media-circulated rumors that Armen Kazaryan, nicknamed Pzo, had close contacts with the Armenian authorities.

“Some circles and media under their control are making vain attempts are spreading idiocies that a Pzo, that is, Armen Kazaryan, arrested in the U.S. for various crimes, has contacts with our country’s high-ranking officials,” Harutyunyan said.

“Without making any appraisals of the political circle and the mass media, I should note that Armen Kazaryan, Pzo, was once in the center of police attention and was detained among other suspects. Some time later Kazaryan was released, a there were no grounds for incriminating him with anything in Armenia. I am sure there is nothing noteworthy about it, as so-called ‘lords of the underworld’ or ‘criminal kingpins’ have always been under police control. I can declare with all responsibility that none of Armenian high-ranking officials interceded on behalf of Kazaryan. I also consider it necessary to add that Aram Sargsyan was then Armenian Prime Minister, and he never offered anyone’s arrest,” General Harutyunyan said.