Raffi Hovannisian, Opposition Rally, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online

RFE/RL reports that Raffi Hovannisian, Armenia’s former Foreign Minister who recently resurfaced in the political arena during the fiasco that was the referendum to amend the constitution, was temporarily detained at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport. Once again, as has been the case for others, it was the former KGB, the National Security Service (NSS), that did the dirty work.

Opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian was reportedly searched and questioned by Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) about his increasingly high-profile political activities on his way to a major international conference on Wednesday.

Hovannisian’s office said he was stopped by an officer of the Armenian successor to the Soviet KGB at Yerevan airport as he was about to board a plane bound for Vienna. “Raffi Hovannisian was questioned about the purpose of the trip, the Armenian constitution and other matters unrelated to airport security,” it said in a statement faxed to RFE/RL.

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“Agent Poghosian, upon making several telephone calls, invited customs agent Karen Petrosian to the scene and instructed him to determine whether Raffi Hovannisian was in violation of relevant customs laws, suggesting a further examination of Hovannisian’s personal papers in a separate room,” it said. “There, under Poghosian’s watch, it was Petrosian’s turn to scour through the documents in pursuit of state secrets.”

The statement added that Hovannisian, who served as Armenia’s first foreign minister in 1992, was allowed to take the delayed flight after the NSS officer photocopied the letter to Kocharian and promised that they will “meet” on his return. “Hovannisian has over the years had several similar experiences — during the Soviet period and in Turkey — but never before in the independent Republic of Armenia whose flag he raised at the United Nations,” it said.

Hovannisian was heading for Ukraine’s capital Kiev to participate in an international forum attended by U.S. Senator John McCain and former Czech President Vaclav Havel. He is due to return to Yerevan on Saturday. The NSS could not be immediately reached for comment on his reported questioning.

Cross posted on New Eurasia.