YEREVAN. – Over thirty intellectuals and men and women of arts and letters have submitted a petition to the Prosecutor General of Armenia and the Kotayk Regional Attorney.   

In their petition they guaranteed that if famous actor and comedian Vardan Petrosyan—who is under arrest—is released, he will not obstruct the ongoing criminal investigation.    

To note, a major accident occurred on October 20 in Kotayk Region. A BMW and a VAZ 2121-model vehicle crashed at around 9:20pm on the Yeghvard-Yerevan motorway. As a result, seven people sustained injuries and were transferred to several hospitals. Among them was famous actor and comedian Vardan Petrosyan, whose liver and spleen had ruptured. His spleen was removed, his ruptured liver was stitched, and he recently was discharged from hospital. As a result of the accident, however, cousins Edgar and Eduard Hakobyan—who were passengers in the VAZ 2121—had died.

A criminal case is instituted on the incident. The Police news service had informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that there was a warrant on Vardan Petrosyan’s arrest.

But Petrosyan’s health had grown worse on November 6, as he had blood pressure fluctuations and respiratory complications. As a result, he was initially taken to Erebuni Medical Center, and subsequently transferred to the Stress Center in Armenia’s capital city Yerevan. The actor was considered an arrestee, and police officers were on duty in front of his hospital room.

Subsequently, Vardan Petrosyan was formally arrested.