On December 3 the Public Relations and Information Department of the RA General Prosecutor’s Office informed that on December 2 the criminal proceedings on the ignition of the car, owned by “Haikakan Zhamanak” daily and used by the Chief Editor Nikol Pashinian, were instituted. As it has been reported, the ignition occurred on the evening of November 22 and, according to the forensic fire examination, was the open source of flame. The Chief Editor of “Haikakan Zhamanak” himself qualified the incident to be intentional and directed against him personally (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, November 26 – December 2, 2004).
The proceedings are instituted by items 1 and 2 of Part 2, Article 185 of the RA Criminal Code ("Intentional destruction or spoilage of property”). These clauses stipulated punishment of up to 4 years’ imprisonment for an action, committed by arson, explosion or other publicly dangerous way and inflicting a major damage. The investigation is conducted by the Investigation Division of the Yerevan Police.
