Former High-Ranking Official Unable to Meet Needs of Himself and Family, Claims Lawyer

In the Yerevan City Court of General Jurisdiction, presided over by Judge Robert Papoyan, a hearing continued today regarding the appeal filed by the defense against the decision to impose a seizure on all of the property belonging to former Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan. This was reported by the Armenian Time.

According to the media outlet, during the session, one of Gevorgyan's lawyers, Erik Aleksanyan, presented the appeal, stating that on August 21, 2018, a decision was made by the prosecuting body to impose a seizure on Armen Gevorgyan's movable and immovable property, financial means, shares, securities, and assets. "As a result of the decision, Armen Gevorgyan has also been deprived of the opportunity to receive remuneration for work and meet the needs of himself and his family, making it evident that this unfounded restriction is actually applied as a punishment. We request that the court obligate the prosecuting body to eliminate the violations of Armen Gevorgyan's rights and freedoms," he said.

The prosecuting attorney, Hayk Petrosyan, stated that the presented appeal is unfounded and should be dismissed. He noted that the scope and boundaries of the charges can change multiple times until the end of the preliminary investigation depending on the factual data obtained by the prosecuting body. He mentioned that by the time the appeal was received and discussed, Armen Gevorgyan had already been charged not only under Article 332 of the RA Criminal Code (obstruction of justice) but also regarding an alleged case of receiving a particularly large bribe, as well as for money laundering.