Activist says their struggle had negative outcome
An activist of the Kasetsum (Suspension) movement and a member of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), Artak Khachatryan, already has a lawyer. “The lawyer is now studying the case material,” the activist told A1+ today without giving his/her name. On February 7, 2015, Artak Khachatryan, was attacked in the neighbourhood of an entertainment centre in Yerevan. He was then taken to an undisclosed location. According to preliminary data of the Investigative Committee, Khachatryan was kidnapped in Yerevan by three armed masked men. Khachatryan was beaten for several hours. Later he was taken to a lonely street and abandoned there. Later that evening the activist was taken to hospital. The activist later addressed a letter-compaint to the Ombudsman who, in turn, forwarded the letter to the Investigative Committee. The latter said they had interrogated several people, appointed forensic examinations, given instructions, conducted searches and deciphered telephone talks. Speaking about the amended law on turnover tax which came into effect on July 1, Artak Khachatryan said their struggle had a negative outcome and the tax burden eventually increased. Together with numerous other activists Artak was protesting the bill, demanding that the government suspend the amendments. Due to well-organized mass protests of representatives of small and medium-sized business and due to the active support of the parliamentary opposition, the government postponed operation of the law to June 1. However, it was enacted on June 1. Pursuant to the new law, the tax rate for businesses in the country has dropped from 3.5 percent to one percent. But, now, the businesses will have to submit documents on their commodity circulation. And if a business enterprise does not submit a respective document, it will be warned at first, and, subsequently, it will be fined first in the amount of 20 000 drams and then 5 percent of turnover tax.
