YEREVAN. – Although serving prefect and ruling Republican Party of Armenia member Rafik Stepanyan is reelected into office at Pshatavan village of the Armavir Region, the elections here were very heated, Hraparak daily writes.  

“The reelected community head was under the patronage of Telman Mkhitaryan, a criminal personality, and he [Stepanyan] distributed sugar to the whole village as election bribe.  

Incidentally, they say the Pshatavan villagers themselves decided on their election bribe. When the incumbent village prefect wished to distribute flour, the villagers said it is the [fruit jam] preparation season, and [therefore] sugar is more preferable.   

To note, Telman Mkhitaryan, who is a ‘father’ in the criminal world, is currently in prison in [Russia’s] Novgorod city, and he is charged with large amount of extortion. He was arrested in [Armenia’s capital] Yerevan in August 2010, [but] subsequently, Armenia’s authorities decided to extradite him.

That is to say, a [criminal] personality sitting in a Russian prison could decide the result of elections in Armenia,” Hraparak writes.