Investigative Committee Has Received Criminal Case Related to Vigen Sargsyan

The Investigative Committee of Armenia has just received the criminal case related to former Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan. Naida Harutyunyan, head of the Information and Public Relations Department of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, informed NEWS.am about this.

Recall that on September 25, the Investigative Committee announced that a sufficient collection of evidence has been established to involve former Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan as a suspect in the case of passing official powers. It later became known that the case was transferred to the Special Investigative Service of Armenia.

According to the clarification from the Office of the Prosecutor General, based on the decision of the prosecutor overseeing the legality of the preliminary investigation within the framework of the criminal case, the decision of the investigator of the particularly important cases investigation department of the Military Investigative Main Department of the Investigative Committee concerning the referral of the criminal case according to investigative jurisdiction has been revoked. Due to the necessity for a number of necessary investigative and procedural actions, the case was sent back to the Investigative Committee of Armenia for further investigation.

Specifically, it has been substantiated within the criminal case that the authority to discuss the allocation of apartments to servicemen in need of improving their housing conditions using the right to gratuitous use of the territories on the balance of the Ministry of Defense was reserved for the central housing commission of the Ministry of Defense, whereas a decision on the allocation of 29 apartments from one of the buildings on G.Hasratyan Street in Yerevan was made by the Minister of Defense. The issue of allocating these apartments was not discussed by the commission, and a number of apartments in the mentioned building were allocated by the commission under the instruction of the Minister of Defense, in violation of the procedure established by the government, which has caused significant harm to the rights of servicemen in need of permanent living space within the Ministry of Defense system, as well as to their legal interests and those of the state.

Vigen Sargsyan himself has stated that actions taken in this criminal case are evidently politically motivated. According to the former official, individuals connected to this specific case, including both those who have received and those who have not received apartments, are well aware that the process was carried out in accordance with legal requirements, with clear principles and criteria.