Case Dismissed

Dear Friends:

We are sad to inform you that our case has again been dismissed by the Prosecutor General. In the last weeks he has followed a pattern of intimidation and pressure of witnesses, piling up lies and working to discredit us. Visit www.ArmeniaNow.com to see a photo of the happy Igityan. As soon as the dismissal was announced, he offered one of the buildings for sale to the Lebanese Embassy for $2 million US. (This is the same building that he claimed he "sold" in Jan. of 2004)

All this has happened despite your letters to government officials, press articles, and our own efforts within the US Senate and House of Representatives, State Department and US Embassy in Armenia. We have asked for a fair hearing of our case, for the observance of the rule of law and transparency of the process. None of these have been respected nor pursued by the Armenian government or the Prosecutor General's Office.

Have we gotten the message yet? (I'm beginning to feel like a 'blogger' on the internet. Sorry for the sarcastic tone - it is hard not to show our anger at this point.) I know you all share our frustration and sadness at our failure to win anything even after three powerful court decisions in our favor. What we now see, and what we have been told, is that there is no way to enforce the court decisions!

The Prosecutor General dismissed this case saying there is a lack of evidence! You'll remember that the Court of Cassation ruled that there is ample evidence proving this is a criminal case! Why is the Prosecutor General protecting Igityan? The answer should, by now, be obvious to everyone who has followed this case.

When you read the ArmeniaNow.com piece note how Igityan has changed his story once more: he now claims to have paid for everything out of his own earnings as a translator (he has dropped the story about his wealth coming from inherited antiques); and, he admits to receiving money from us, but, he says, he distributed these funds to other people as we requested (it wasn't for the construction of the properties). Oh boy! What lies! The Prosecutor General hasn't charged Igityan with shifting testimonies nor has he asked him about the $300,000 we paid directly to contractors, through another manager, after Igityan was removed from the project. How do they explain that? No one bothers to ask; the other manager has never been interviewed by the investigators.

There will be an appeal - and we'll be starting all over again. We welcome your suggestions.

The date of the hearing will be broadcast as soon as we know it. Many of you may be in Armenia when our appeal to the court is heard. We continue to need your support; your presence in the courtroom is critical; last time, we may have lost because there were only 4 people present.

Thank you!

Carolann and George