Former Official of 'Armviro' Penitentiary Received Bribes in the Form of Construction Materials from Inmates for His Event Hall

The Special Investigation Service of Armenia has established sufficient evidence during the preliminary investigation of a criminal case, proving that G. S., who held the position of head of a section of the Republic of Armenia's 'Armviro' penitentiary from 2018 to 2019, committed illegal actions on behalf of the detainees held in that section, resulting in the receipt of substantial bribes and abuse of his official powers.

According to the charges brought against him, in 2019, G. S. received construction materials in the form of bribes from two detainees held in the 'Armviro' penitentiary to supply materials for the construction of an event hall belonging to his family. Specifically, to perform obvious illegal actions for the benefit of one detainee, including facilitating the transfer of prohibited items into the penitentiary, G. S. demanded construction products from this detainee in April 2019, and, through an intermediary, received them as bribes.

The intermediary, on the instruction of the detainee, purchased and delivered the materials to G. S.’s family-owned event hall. For the benefit of the other detainee, G. S. also received construction materials as bribes in March 2019, which were subsequently transported to the same hall. However, G. S. did not manage to receive another batch of construction materials since the person transporting it was arrested by the National Security Service of Armenia on July 11, 2019.

Furthermore, G. S., by using the construction materials received as bribes against the interests of his official position, facilitated the transfer of prohibited items into the penitentiary, failed to fulfill his official duties, particularly not taking measures to prevent detainees from using mobile phones and their freedom of movement, as well as detecting prohibited items from detainees and documenting violations according to the law.

G. S. has been charged under Article 311, Part 3, Point 3, and Article 308, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia. The preliminary investigation of the criminal case against him has been completed, and the case has been submitted to the supervising prosecutor with a request for approval and submission to court.