Criminal Cases Opened Due to Violations Found in the Housing Provision Process for Soldiers

The Military Prosecutor's Office of Armenia has summarized the results of studies initiated last year in the field of housing provision for soldiers. This is the first time such a comprehensive study has been undertaken regarding the housing conditions of soldiers in the Ministry of Defense system, focusing on their registration for housing, and the allocation of state-owned housing to soldiers and their family members either for free use or ownership.

The study also examines the processes of providing financial support through state funding to acquire a residential property with a backyard or to improve housing conditions—from the registration of soldiers to the final enhancement of their housing circumstances.

During this phase, the Department for the Protection of Public Interests of the Military Prosecutor's Office requested and received information about allocations from the housing fund available at five addresses under the Ministry of Defense's purview. A total of 150 housing cases have been analyzed from five residential buildings. So far, 91 cases, or about 61%, have been examined, out of which violations were found in 21 cases.

The identified violations primarily involve the lack of adequate living space under property rights, receiving financial support for acquiring housing or improving housing conditions without submitting the required documentation, presenting false documents that did not correspond to reality, failing to properly verify the aggravated housing conditions, unlawfully replacing the allocated housing with another property against regulations, and cases of illegal, gratuitous use of housing under the guise of unfounded priority or queue inclusion.

Violations have been recorded in relation to 20 apartments for 21 soldiers, as well as in the process of providing a total of 21,401,000 AMD in free financial support for acquiring housing. Based on all gathered materials related to these violations, nine criminal cases have been initiated under articles 308 (abuse of official powers), 309 (overstepping official powers), 314 (official forgery), 325 (forgery or use of documents, seals, or other official forms), and 376 (negligent attitude towards official duties) of the Armenian Criminal Code, and these cases are currently under investigation.

Considering the priority of resolving housing issues for soldiers and their significant social impact, the Military Prosecutor's Office continues to conduct studies in this sector. Necessary prosecutorial measures are being undertaken to clarify the extent of damages to the state, identify the responsible parties, assess their actions legally, recover losses incurred by the state, eliminate identified violations, and prevent future occurrences. Further updates on ongoing studies and their results will be provided in due course.