Gurgen Khachatryan Has Never Hidden from the Investigative Body, Will Appear When the Pre-Trial Body Returns to Legality: Lawyer

Gurgen Khachatryan has never hidden from the investigative body and has never impeded the examination of the case. This was stated by Gurgen Khachatryan's lawyer, Yerem Sargsyan, in an interview with "Factinfo".

It should be recalled that recently the court accepted the NSS's request to detain Gurgen Khachatryan, and shortly thereafter a search warrant was issued against him. Yerem Sargsyan noted that the criminal case has been under investigation since 2019, and the pre-trial body cannot point to a single instance of illegal behavior on the part of G. Khachatryan.

"This case has existed since February 2019; he has always appeared before the investigative body, provided explanations, submitted documents, and instructed us to submit the necessary documents. In other words, he has made every effort to contribute to the investigation. Having been outside Armenia, he returned knowing about the events affecting his family. Now they claim that he might obstruct the investigation, hide, or not appear. It is obvious that despite the initial irregularities, including those related to Gagik Khachatryan, Gurgen nevertheless thought that his business would not be included in this investigation illegally, that he is a business person, and the state would not engage in such illegal actions or pressures. But when the illegalities became apparent, it was clear that they wanted to detain him at any cost and press charges as heavily as possible. Gurgen Khachatryan does not want to participate in such illegal processes, thus eliminating the irregularities," Sargsyan emphasized, adding that "the moment the investigation returns to legality, everything will be in order, and according to the law, Gurgen Khachatryan will appear before the investigative body."

The lawyer stated that after the notification of the upcoming interrogation, a request was submitted to the investigative body that Gurgen Khachatryan would appear in a few hours, followed immediately by the process of announcing the search warrant. It is worth mentioning that on April 28, Gurgen Khachatryan stated that a direct and indirect demand had been made at the level of high-ranking officials to alienate Ucom.

"Seeing that sabotage has not yielded results and we continue to control the situation, in recent days a direct demand has been presented to alienate Ucom, and in case of refusal, they clearly indicated that I would be accused of committing a particularly serious crime and detained in a short time, followed by similar actions against my brother, other family members, relatives, close associates, and other individuals linked to us," Khachatryan announced, stressing that they would not yield to pressures and "Ucom" would not be sold.

This statement was followed by extensive investigative actions by law enforcement: searches were conducted in the Khachatryan residences, business offices, and even in the newly appointed director of Ucom's apartment and car. Furthermore, Gurgen Khachatryan's mother and wife were summoned by the NSS, although according to Article 65 of the Constitution, they are exempt from the obligation to testify.

The NSS announced that Gurgen Khachatryan would face additional charges beyond those previously presented, and a request was made to detain him as a preventive measure, which was granted.