Criminal Case of 'Bottle Melo' Sent to Court with Indictment

The criminal investigation initiated regarding the illegal removal of a vehicle bearing traces of a crime from the scene on the Yerevan-Sevan highway on August 2, 2019, has been completed.

It has been substantiated through a sufficient combination of evidence that on August 2, 2019, at approximately 16:30, in connection with the attempted murder of businessman Melik Manukyan, carried out by means of an explosive device on the 15 km section of the Yerevan-Sevan highway, Melik Manukyan's 'Range Rover' vehicle, which bore traces of the crime, was intentionally entered into the area cordoned off by tape by his brother R. M. along with two other individuals, without the permission of the investigator conducting the on-site inspection and the police officers securing the scene.

Regarding the issue of moving the vehicle bearing traces of the crime from the scene, R. M. entered into a dispute with the investigator and the police officers securing the area, during which he stated that the aforementioned vehicle belonging to his brother should be moved to a location of his choosing. The police and the investigator urged him to cease such behavior and expelled him from the secured area.

However, R. M. did not comply with their demands and, in contrast, ordered M. M., a member of the police special forces who was securing the scene and an employee of Melik Manukyan's security, to remove the vehicle from that area. Under R. M.'s instigation, M. M. intervened in the investigator's actions, knowing that the vehicle at the scene bore traces of the crime and was aware that the transfer of the said vehicle without permission was prohibited by law enforcement agencies, obstructing a thorough, complete, and objective investigation.

In particular, he entered the aforementioned vehicle and, disregarding the lawful demands of the police officers securing the scene, started it up, drove it away abruptly, and crossed the cordoned area, thereby threatening the life or health of a police officer by means of non-dangerous violence.

On November 8, 2019, R. M. was charged under the second part of Article 38-332 of the Criminal Code of Armenia, and detention was chosen as a measure of restraint against him. On the same day, M. M. was charged under the second part of Article 332 and the first part of Article 316 of the Criminal Code, and an alternative measure of restraint in the form of bail was selected for him.

The prosecutor overseeing the legality of the pre-trial investigation confirmed the indictment prepared in the criminal case and sent it to the Court of General Jurisdiction of Kotayk Province for substantive examination.