Sanasyan's Defenders Request to Halt Criminal Prosecution

During a court session at the Shengavit residence of the Yerevan City Court of General Jurisdiction, the defenders of the suspended head of the State Oversight Service, Davit Sanasyan, and others requested to halt the criminal prosecution against Sanasyan.

The basis of the motion was that the preliminary investigation in the case had significant violations of criminal procedural norms and was not conducted by the appropriate agency. "Months ago, the Deputy Prosecutor General Melkonyan had sent a letter to the head of the NSS investigative department, assigning the preliminary investigation of this criminal case to the investigative department. After charges were brought against Davit Sanasyan, the preliminary investigation continued to be conducted by the NSS investigative department; however, we believe this should not have taken place there," said defender Inessa Petrosyan.

She referenced the first point of Article 190 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which states that the preliminary investigation of criminal cases against Davit Sanasyan must be carried out by Investigative Committee investigators. "According to the sixth part of the same article, the preliminary investigation of crimes committed by leaders of legislative, executive, and judicial authorities, as well as individuals performing state service due to their official position, as well as other articles of the RA Criminal Code, is carried out by the Special Investigative Service investigators," Petrosyan noted.

The discussion of the motion was postponed since the judge was on duty. The next court session was scheduled for February 14, 2020, at 14:00.