Decision Made to Change the Restraint Measure for Arsen Babayan

The advisor to the Prosecutor General of Armenia, Gor Abrahamyan, has made a post on his Facebook page announcing the decision to change the restraint measure for former Deputy Chief of Staff of the National Assembly, Arsen Babayan.

The full text of the post is presented below:

I consider it important to inform that within the framework of the criminal case being investigated by the Special Investigation Service of Armenia (in which Arsen Babayan was charged on October 22, 2019, under Article 38-300, Part 1, and Article 314, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia), the responsible body was instructed to carry out the planned investigative and other necessary procedural actions concerning Arsen Babayan in a timely manner. As a result, it would be possible to consider the continuity of the grounds mentioned in the court's decision for the application of arrest as a restraint measure against him.

After examining the materials of the criminal case and considering that, at the current stage of the preliminary investigation, the majority of the planned necessary investigative and other procedural actions concerning the accused Arsen Babayan had already been carried out, it was determined that the risk of obstructing the investigation by illegally influencing the persons involved in the criminal proceedings in case of his remaining at liberty has decreased. Additionally, it is noteworthy that applications were submitted by the President of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia, Avetik Ishkhanyan, and Deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia, Sisak Gabrielyan, to apply personal guarantees as a restraint measure for the accused Arsen Babayan, including copies of transfer orders for a guarantee amount of 500,000 AMD.

On November 12, 2019, a decision was made to change the restraint measure applied to the accused Arsen Babayan from arrest to the application of personal guarantees.

A copy of the decision has been sent to the administration of the Detention Facility to ensure its execution.