Ara Oskanian, son of Armenia’s foreign minister Vardan Oskanian, was arrested yesterday on charges of kidnapping a man called N. Berberyan who owed him 1.5 million AMD.

According to a statement released by Armenia’s Investigative Committee, Ara Oskanian and a friend, H. Siradaryan, confronted Berberyan on February 16 in Yerevan and demanded payment.

The two then hustled him into a car and drove to the town of Abovyan, where they threatened to beat him if he didn’t pay.

Berberyan, according to the Investigative Committee’s statement, filed a complaint against the two alleged kidnappers.

Ara Oskanian and Siradaryan are said to have refused to talk to police and have been charged with Article 133, Part 2, of the Criminal Code - Illegal deprivation of freedom.

Police have launched an investigation into the matter.

Vardan Oskanian is set to run for parliament in the April 2 election on the ORO (Ohanian-Raffi-Oskanian) ticket.