Attempted Murder, Kidnapping, Robbery: Investigative Committee on the Decision to Detain Vardanyan

The Investigative Committee of Armenia has announced that a decision was made on March 6, 2020, regarding the inclusion of A.V. (Aram Vardanyan, also known as Vsterchi Apeer) as a defendant in a criminal case being investigated by the Investigative Division of the Erebuni and Nubarashen Administrative Districts of Yerevan.

A.V. is accused under Article 38-34-104, part 2, point 6, Article 38-131, part 1, and Article 38-176, part 3, point 1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia for committing publicly dangerous acts. In the summer of 2016, he allegedly instructed his associates S.K., E.E., A.K., and an individual known as A. to violently steal a BMW X6 vehicle from E.A., worth 25,000 USD and equivalent to 11,900,000 AMD, which he had previously acquired.

According to the investigative report, the group obstructed the vehicle in a prominent location at the intersection of Bournazyan and Sasuntsi David Streets in Erebuni community and, after using non-life-threatening violence against E.A., assaulted him, threw him to the ground, and stole the car.

Following this, in the summer of 2019, A.V. instructed his nephew A.V. to openly kidnap E.A. and bring him to his house. To execute this instruction, A.V. deceitfully met E.A. near his residence under the pretense of discussing matters and misled him into accompanying him to A.V.'s residence located on Artsakh Street in Yerevan, where E.A. was held against his will and assaulted based on A.V.'s directives.

Furthermore, due to long-standing antagonistic relations with E.A., A.V. is also accused of having deliberately instructed to unlawfully deprive E.A. of his life. To fulfill this directive, on March 4, 2020, at approximately 17:30, shots were fired towards E.A. from a vehicle traveling on Bournazyan Street, posing a danger to the lives of many, and as a result of the gunfire, E.A. and M.M., who was present in a nearby workshop, sustained injuries. Fortunately, the shooter fled the scene before completing the crime.

On March 8, 2020, the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction selected detention as a preventive measure against A.V., and a search was announced to locate him. On March 5, 2020, his nephew A.V. was charged with Article 131 (kidnapping) and S.K. was charged with Article 176 (robbery) of the Criminal Code, but the court rejected the motions for their detention, opting for a signature prohibiting them from leaving instead. The preliminary investigation is ongoing.

Note: A suspect or accused individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedures stipulated by the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia and the court's legally binding verdict.