Gagik Khachatryan Transferred to Medical Facility: Statement

The former Minister of Finance of Armenia and former head of the State Revenue Committee, Gagik Khachatryan, has been transferred to a medical facility. In connection with this, his legal team issued a statement saying, “On January 22 of this year, the medical council, involving high-level specialists, provided clear instructions for treating Khachatryan in a hospital environment. However, for unclear reasons, Khachatryan's treatment was interrupted, and he was immediately transferred to a correctional institution. The legal team has made numerous requests and complaints to ensure that Khachatryan receives appropriate medical care, but this demand has not been met, and his rights have once again been violated.

“The health issue was recorded as early as January 22, and essentially no change in the situation has occurred. After numerous complaints and requests from our side—pointing out that there are even characteristics of a crime—we saw that only after this issue was raised by the media and after we contacted the Human Rights Defender, Khachatryan was transferred to a medical center, although there has been no medical change,” said Yerevan Sargsyan, a member of the legal team.

Earlier, Khachatryan's legal team informed that the competent state authorities are violating the rights of an individual as defined under Article 3 of the European Convention. According to the legal team, the state's primary obligation should be to provide proper medical conditions, yet the opposite is occurring.

“This means that if a specific individual is being investigated, this decision can be applied to that individual, but not to others, for example, Gagik Khachatryan. What kind of approach is this? If I analyze this a bit deeper, I could even identify apparent elements of a crime,” Sargsyan added.

It is noteworthy that from 2014 to 2016, Gagik Khachatryan served as the Minister of Finance of Armenia and is accused of organizing waste during his official activities, having been in custody for about six months. He does not accept the charges brought against him.