A new scandal is brewing in connection with the ruling political team of Armenia. This time the “hero” of this scandal is Yezidi MP Rustam Bakoyan of the majority Civil Contract faction in the National Assembly (NA), Politik.am writes.

It turns out that this lawmaker, who is a member of the NA human rights committee, is not so reconciled with human rights in his own family, and more specifically, with the rights of his common-law wife.

The other day, the Politik.am reporter had a meeting with Bakoyan's wife—the woman's personal data are not publicized yet at her request. The presented facts and what the woman told the reporter are just reminiscent of a horror movie.

After becoming an MP, Bakoyan made great efforts to get acquainted with the single mother of two children living in Europe. Eventually, the woman left her lucrative job in Europe and moved to Armenia, where they began to live together. According to the woman, despite living together, Bakoyan avoided officially registering the marriage because he did not want the Yezidis to know that he had married a foreign woman. Yezidis are forbidden to marry foreigners, and in case of such marriages a person ceases to be considered a Yezidi.

In Armenia, Bakoyan lived in his wife's private house for two years, spent her money, and even bought her own clothes with her money. According to the interlocutor, Bakoyan often created situations so that the woman, out of pity, would give him money to solve personal problems (loans, debts, livestock business).

Several times, Bakoyan also persuaded his wife to bet on various matters. During one such case, he received a bet of 3,000 euros from his wife, which the woman allegedly lost to him. According to the interlocutor, with the money he took, he bought sheep and sent them to the mountains. In general, the interlocutor has given Bakoyan more than 15 thousand dollars in cash during these years; this does not include the expenses that the woman made to buy Bakoyan clothes, take him on trips to various countries.

Rustam Bakoyan has physically abused her common-law wife many times during their life together. The photos taken after two such incidents were already given to Politik.am by Bakoyan's now ex-wife, which Politik.am has publicized. The woman called the police after one of the incidents of violence, she was called to one of the departments of Yerevan, where she reported a crime, but then withdrew the report so as not to harm her beloved man.

The interlocutor says that even their first meeting started with a suspicious story. The woman gave Bakoyan her watch worth 13,500 dollars for a short time, which, according to her, the lawmaker attempted to appropriate. But when he realized that the woman will not keep silent and go to the police, he returned it. By the way, there is also an article in the press about this watch.

A few months ago, Bakoyan made one of the regular arguments a reason and left the woman's house. According to her, Bakoyan ran away from her because he was informed that her financial means had deteriorated and she could not afford to spend as much money as before; moreover, it may be necessary for Bakoyan to also spend his own money to take care of the needs of the two minor children.

Now the woman is in a desperate situation, as Bakoyan, making up various reasons, has taken all her savings and left, and the woman has to resolve the issues of the minor children alone. The woman demands that Bakoyan return the money for her children, her gold and other material means. Bakoyan's now ex-wife also demands that PM Nikol Pashinyan penalize his political teammate. She is also ready to speak and present all the necessary evidence to the law enforcement, and to speak in court. And she advises Rustam Bakoyan to think carefully before denying every mentioned fact, because there is a fact under every word.

The interlocutor presented other more interesting details about Bakoyan's activities, regarding the misappropriation of aid that came to Armenia during the 44-day war. Politik.am will have more detailed publications about this in the near future. In the near future, in case of the woman's permission, Politik.am will also publicize the full recording of the interview with her.

PS. Politik.am could not contact the pro-government MP, but stands ready to listen to him, too.