From Arthur Hagopian
Sydney, Feb 21, 2026
It’s been eight days now, and Australia’s Armenians are still waiting for a safe denouement of the mistaken kidnapping of an aged Armenian from his home in a suburb of Sydney.
The innocent, 85-year-old man, Chris (Khatchig) Baghsarian was snatched at 5am last Friday, gagged and bungled, and carried away in a black Totota SUV.
Since then, police have been working round the clock to locate the man and free him.
Yesterday, they discovered the makeshift hideaway the perpetrators had used, but were too late to catch them.
The unprecedented crime has been a calamitous blow for the Armenian community, particularly fellow expatriates who have come here in hopes of building a better life.
Most have succeeded, some entering politics and attaining coveted positions in government.
The car was later found burnt some distance away.
“We heard dogs barking and screaming,” a neighbor told police when they showed up.
Australians, of all walks of life have reacted with outrage at the unprecedented assault, particularly when it became clear he was not the intended target.
After arriving in Sydney in the late 60’s, Chris began working for a movie distribution company: his first job had been as a painter but he knew nothing about the trade and used up a whole gallon of expensive paint on just one part of a wall: the foreman was not amused.
A genial, quiet man he has no vices, except for his unlimited consumption of Coca Cola and partiality to soap operas.
Police asserted this was a case of the wrong person being singled out, and urged the perpetrators to release Baghsarian who is frail and needs urgent medication
Unverified sources claim the underworld are not happy because they consider that a line has been crossed.
Chris is my cousin, so I rang up the police and offered to deliver the urgent medication Chris needs for his blood pressure, to some “designated” spot so it could be picked up, but they did not like the unspoken risks involved.
As people pass by the boarded-up window the intruders had shattered in their forced entry into his house, all they can do is utter a prayer for his safe return.
But with the passing days, and no viable leads, hope is beginning to fade, and his family and relatives worry about how this frail old man will survive his ordeal.
Pix caption: A youthful Chris with his prize MG.
