Recent tensed political events have shadowed the tragic situation famous actor Vardan Petrosyan is in and all events taking place around it. But the problem is yet open with subtexts and a part of our society who is concerned with our nation’s moral character should not be silent or soften its protest.
Whatever had taken place on October 20 is tragedy. How did it happen? Did Vardan Petrosyan violate traffic rules? Nothing is clear yet. But results of our uneducated journalists and illegal actions of our judiciary workers are beyond doubt. The latters, unlike journalists, are skilled and can legally justify their illegal actions. And even so, they cannot deny that those actions are anti-human and immoral. One thing is sure, Vardan Petrosyan did not commit a planned crime. Yet actions of law enforcement are deliberate crimes.
A rare phenomenon is the fact that an Armenian actor gains fame in a foreign country, enjoying people’s applauses and amusements, returns to his homeland for self-donation. Those who leave the country usually take spiritual values away with them and bring back the material ones. Not because there are no spiritual values abroad, but because Armenia is their home.
Vardan Petrosyan, is one of the rarest intellectuals, who bring spiritual values to Armenia.
After every play, audience had an impression that Vardan said whatever he had to, but he returned again and again. He was never alienated. He would come and say “Paris is yours, Robert Osein is yours, take it all”. He always brought tears through laughter, hope and optimism.
Vardan always created unusually open and proximate atmosphere. His audience always left with full of hope, with changed outlook on life. They became familiar to themselves even more and got to know their favourite actor better. Forgive me for talking with past tense. I just know that we will never see the Vardan we know on stage again, even if he is released today from jail. Whatever happened is already a life sentence for him.
30 cultural figures have written a reference to RA Attorney General and the Prosecutor of Kotayk region, asking to change Vardan Petrosyan’s detention as a preventive measure, as he was in poor health condition. Even the president had turned to the Prosecutor for rethinking the detention, but it so happened that all are EQUAL IN THE EYES OF THE LAW. What a farce…
I call our judicial bodies, who became prisoners of law to use their force for discovering the hundreds of cases that are still undisclosed. I’m not urging them to release Vardan, but even the person who created traffic rules can be involved in an accident. No one is protected from such situations. It is not only a talented artist we talk about, but also an abiding citizen, a man of devout, who has always been there for us, giving us hope and encouraging to not forget our moral values.
We owe hope and consolation to Vardan. Cruelty and malice of RA Constitution should not be added to Vardan huge remorse.
It is hard to find words for the families that have lost their sons. May God grant them with patience. But can there be anyone, who does not know Edgar and Edward, feeling as much heartache as Vardan does? No need to oppose Vardan’s life to the death of the boys.
