Armenia’s Investigative Committee Announces Arrests in the 1998 Assassination of Deputy Defense Minister Vahram Khorkhoruni; Three Detained

YEREVAN — The Investigative Committee of Armenia has officially announced the resolution of the 1998 assassination of Vahram Khorkhoruni, former Deputy Minister of Defense of Armenia.

According to the statement, as a result of joint efforts by the Investigative Committee and the National Security Service, it has been determined that Khorkhoruni’s murder on December 10, 1998, was carried out by individuals identified as S.A., H.N., and A.A., who acted with financial motives.

“S.A., a serviceman at the time, conspired to organize the assassination of former Deputy Defense Minister Vahram Khorkhoruni for material gain. In November–December 1998, S.A. made arrangements with H.N. and A.A., residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, offering them $10,000 and $15,000 respectively in exchange for executing the murder,” the statement reads.

The report continues: “On December 7, 1998, H.N. and A.A. traveled to Yerevan, followed by S.A. on December 8. They brought with them the firearm to be used in the crime. S.A. coordinated and fully planned the criminal group’s actions. On December 8, he took his accomplices to the building where Khorkhoruni lived and pointed it out. On the evening of December 9, the conspirators met at Republic Square and drove to Khorkhoruni’s residence in a vehicle driven by H.N., where they lay in wait.”

According to the preliminary division of roles, H.N. waited in the vehicle, while S.A. and A.A. positioned themselves at the entrance of the building. At approximately 12:30 a.m. on December 10, 1998, as Vahram Khorkhoruni entered the building on his way home, S.A. and A.A., acting jointly and in coordination, used an illegally modified 9mm homemade firearm with a suppressor—firing five shots, three to the face and two to the back and side of the chest. Khorkhoruni died at the scene. The perpetrators immediately fled.

The Investigative Committee revealed that public criminal prosecution has been initiated against S.A. under Article 155, Part 2, Clause 10 (murder committed with financial motives) and Article 335, Part 1 (illegal circulation of firearms and ammunition) of Armenia’s Criminal Code. S.A. has been taken into custody.

The statement concludes that, under the directive of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee, other unsolved high-profile murder cases from past years are also being reexamined.