Draft:Rafael Baghdasaryan

Rafael Mkrtychevich Baghdasaryan (Armenian:  Ռաֆայել Մկրտչի Բաղդասարյան) (Known as: Svo Raf, Svo Raf Yerevanskii.. , born on February 11, 1930, died on June 23, 1993 . Armenian criminal authority, who had the status of a Thief in law. He was one of the leaders of the criminal environment of the USSR . He had a great international reputation, which extends to both Armenians and Azerbaijanis attending his funeral in a time of war between the two. In correctional labor colonies, Svo Raf always violated the rules, refused to work, attacked facility officials, and also made several unsuccessful attempts to escape from the detention center

Life
Svo Raf studied at the school named after Maxim Gorky. He attended school from the age of 8. According to the testimony of his peers, he did not show interest in studies and studied mediocrely, but he had a special gift of being different in his environment, separating himself from others, establishing connections. He left school in the 6th grade. Being daring, not afraid of anything. However, he did not bother people. His father's beating to change his character later left a serious mark on him. His grandfather was priest Ter Sahak of the Hoktemberyan church.

His wedding took place in Sevan's "Parvana" restaurant, where the authorities of the entire criminal world gathered. Among them were those who were in conflict with each other, but the wedding ceremony went off without incident. "Ded Hasan" was the godfather of Svo Raf's wedding. Svo Raf married Georgian-Armenian Natasha Palasyan. They had a daughter from that marriage who was named Rebecca after her mother. After Svo Raf's arrest, the woman renamed the girl Diana and left for Georgia to her relatives. It is known that Svo Raf had an affair with the famous Russian singer Lyubov Uspenskaya, and her song "Jigyar" is dedicated to Svo Raf. He was crowned as a thief in the Victorious year of 1945, at the age of 14.

As biased as it may sound, Svo Raf during his entire life, never wrote a testimony, did not sign any protocol to the police, and he maintained the behavior of a "real" thief in law (not straying from the Thieves code by one bit). His willful qualities were the main one that earned him the title of "thief in law" while still a minor. He served a total of 34 years in prison

As of his hygiene, morals, and use of substances, he didn't smoke, didn't drink, didn't swear, and didn't use drugs. And he even repeated very often that whoever is injected (referring to needles) is not a "thief", because even a loyal friend could easily betray him under the influence of a drug or in the absence and withdrawal of said drug.

After the Central Asian prisons, he spent his imprisonment in the desert 40 km from the city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan. That dungeon called "Karaul Bazar" is a 1 meter diameter and 10 meter deep dungeon where he was kept in 1973. Food and water were thrown from above the bars of the cell by officers, and he as other convicts had to catch them. There were also scorpions and snakes, but Svo Raf did not like to talk about the conditions he was kept in.

For a long time, there had not been such a brutal period in the capital of Russia. Rafael, who was in Lefortovo's isolation cell at that time, told the investigators that all this is happening because he is imprisoned. He also warned that the balance in the criminal world has been tampered with, and has been brought to an imbalance and this is just the beginning. He was frequently arrested for theft and forgery of documents, and was mainly engaged in tax collection and arms trade. And such, he cease-fire in the world of thieves was broken when the Chechens wanted to come to power.

Conditions of arrest
Afterwards, "Shram Gena", a Georgian thief in law, who headed the Chechen mafia, sent information to Svo Raf's close associates that they want to get their hands on the "tax collection" of the Russian markets, which belonged to Svo Raf. Svo Raf had helped the Chechens alot, as in he didn't let them "break" or be overthrown. This was absolute hypocrisy for "real" thieves in law, which was never forgiven. Svo Raf did not agree to the request, because he had not resorted to it and would not resort to it in principle, but he was well aware that a serious war was ahead of them, because he was dealing with a group of hypocrites who "did not respect salt and bread", which was considered sacred for Svo Raf. Baghdasaryan left that matter to the Moscow criminal authorities, because the Chechens were in the first priority of all their opponents. Especially when their friend "Yaponchik" (real name being Vyacheslav Ivankov) was already in the USA and could not help in any way. Svo Raf made no mistake and his scenario paid off. He was arrested for the last time on December 23, 1992, in room 621 of the "Minsk" hotel.

He was arrested by the Russian Special Services and detained in the "Lefortovo" prison of the KGB.

Death
In 1993, Svo Raf was brought to hospital No. 20 under the fake alias "Ashot Balyan". When he regained consciousness, he barely whispers that he wants apricot juice (a common drink in his home nation of Armenia). His kidneys were bleeding, and as the sister who took care of him later recalled, Svo Raf began to monologue. Although Rafael was not talkative, during that short period of his stay in the hospital, he talked to him and told his whole life and tried to analyze it. "Violence, violence, violence everywhere. Everyone wants to prove their power. However, one should think that a new violence can stand against every violence," he said.

He then continues that despite the poverty, during the war and post-war years, Yerevan was known for its people, people with a strong will. "My strict father wanted me to excel and get an education. But I aspired to freedom, absolute freedom, so that no one would command me, so that I would be respected, I learned the complex science of living alongside powerful people. People are evil and don't want to see strong people around them, so thousands of people like me have been destroyed. I would be destroyed by my character, my desires, I would be "underfoot".

''Therefore, I had to "sewn armor" for myself to face this evil world. But that's enough. I, who never raised my hands on God's greatest gift, life, you have broken and destroyed me. I don't consider myself a knight, but I wanted to create balance in this imperfect and imperfect world. However, in the end, you came out righteous and good, and I came out the criminal. It's okay, time will fix everything. It may not be me, but time will put everyone in their right place," added the godfather of thieves and asked the nurse for apricot juice before his death. However, Svo Raph did not want anyone to choose his path. The next day they announce his death and only allow him to be visited and transported. It should be noted that Svo Raf's friends had put millions of dollars into circulation to get him out of prison, but the law enforcement officers valued Svo Raf more than any money. Moreover, after the death of the thieves' godfather, they announced that he died of natural causes, but the forensic examination proved otherwise. "Yaponchik" learned about it and said. "I lost my brother.''"

To say goodbye to Svo Raf at his burial, on June 26 (27), 1993 ,a group of famous people who were registered as "thieves in law" in the criminal police archives of their countries arrived in Yerevan on 8 planes. They came to the RA capital from Moscow, the USA, Germany, in short, from all European countries. They even came from Azerbaijan, who brought with them a huge amount of fuel oil, as a result of which Yerevan's power was not cut off for 3 days in honor of Svo Raf.

Traffic in the capital was stopped, and when the deceased was brought out into the street, dozens of pigeons were released into the sky. Svo Raf was one of those people who became a "legend" in the peoples even before his death. The funeral is performed by priest Ter Gurgen of St. Gayane Church, who emphasized in his speech. "Perhaps you still do not realize what kind of person we are burying, he was a legend of our history. Such people are born once in 100 years. He did a lot for the Armenian Apostolic Church. They will talk about him the way they talk about Andranik and Nzhdeh today."

Legacy and General Facts
It should be noted that Svo Raf had many friends with whom he has kept in touch since childhood. Jivan Gasparyan was also among them, whose music, as Svo Raf said, touches the soul. Svo Raf's right hand and constant companion was Azerbaijani Fikret Maheramov

The thief in law was born on the banks of the Getar River, next to the chess house (formerly Alaverdyan, now on Hanrapetut street). And before that, his father, Mkrtich Baghdasaryan, had moved the family from Getashen village of Armavir region to Yerevan.

Svo Raf has solved complex issues in the thieves world,, and resolved group disputes. He had 3 passports to hide the fact of his conviction. But he never had a luxurious apartment. His biography was clean. he didn't buy expensive cars, he was given the "obshchak" by Mercedes. Few of the "thieves by law" were "immortalized" who did not accumulate property, and Svo Raf was one of those exceptions.

However, that circumstance did not prevent him from providing huge military and food aid to Armenia for the liberation struggle of Artsakh. With the help of his Azerbaijani friends, he kidnapped Azerbaijani trucks loaded with ammunition and essential goods from Moscow and sent them to Artsakh. He organized 1 Armenian and 2 Russian squads who were trying to help the Artsakh war. Svo Raf never liked to talk about the fact that he supplied a large amount of ammunition, clothing and food to the battlefield. During the "gathering of thieves", the thieves were surprised by the footage shot by Bakur Karapetyan in Sumgait, in which someone asked for help with signs of the thieves' world. Bakur Karapetyan did not understand what it meant, but the criminal authorities were very moved by that shot.

At the same time, Svo Raf noted that this war is not of thieves, because they are peaceful within the framework of the law and closely cooperate with the Azeris, and did not prevent Azerbaijani thieves in law from helping him send weapons to Karabakh.