Second Search Conducted in Homes of Gurgen Khachaturyan's Family Members: Statement

The legal team representing the Khachaturyan family has issued a statement alerting to ongoing apparent violations by the National Security Service (NSS).

The statement is as follows:

“The legal team of the Khachaturyan family is raising alarms about numerous violations that occurred between April 30 and May 17. During this period, several dozen searches were conducted in the homes and properties of Gurgen Khachaturyan, co-founder of the ‘Galaxy’ group and Chairman of the Board of Directors of ‘Ucom’, as well as in the residences of his family members and relatives, raising numerous questions regarding the legitimacy and the actions of the NSS during these searches.

“Searches in the apartments owned by Gurgen Khachaturyan, his brother, and parents had already taken place back in August 2019, which could have been somewhat logical since the search was, in effect, an urgent investigative action. However, immediately following Gurgen Khachaturyan’s statement, searches of such magnitude—baseless and illegal—have occurred almost daily, which we assess as actions aimed at exerting psychological pressure on Gurgen Khachaturyan, his family members, and relatives for unlawful purposes and to keep them in a state of anxiety,” stated attorney Yerem Sargsyan.

It should also be noted that the initial request for around 10 searches had been partially granted by a specific judge, allowing searches solely for the purpose of discovering Gurgen Khachaturyan. However, instead of appealing the court's decision through the legally established procedure, the prosecutorial authorities re-submitted the same request to the court merely minutes later, which was then assigned to a 'favorable' judge who, without blinking, granted the request meeting the NSS's desires.

This indicates that even the courts are unable to serve as a reliable mechanism to curb the illegal actions of the prosecutorial body in this criminal case. If any judge finds strength within to reject the NSS's requests based on the law, another judge instantly appears who unlawfully grants the same request, as has been witnessed from the initial phase of this criminal case.

“Within a week, a second search has already been conducted in the homes of the family members belonging to Gurgen Khachaturyan, during which the level of illegalities has evidently increased. Special operations units of the NSS have now been involved in the execution of these searches, and items have begun to be seized, including pictures affixed to the walls of the apartment, for which the courts had not provided seizure permissions. In other words, requests for searches are presented to the court with the aim of discovering specific items, yet entirely different items are being seized at the arbitrary whim of the prosecuting agency, which is clearly illegal,” noted the attorney.

Notably, in this manner, the prosecuting body is also undermining the constitutional requirement that a residence can only be searched based on a court ruling.