New Criminal Charges Filed in Case Against Vladimir Gasparyan for Misconduct

On August 9, 2020, a journalist from the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that on August 8, around 4:00 PM, former Chief of Police of Armenia Vladimir Gasparyan obstructed the professional activities of the reporter and operators during a report on illegal constructions along the shores of Lake Sevan, making threats of violence that posed danger to their lives and health.

In connection with the incident, a criminal case was initiated on August 9, 2020, at the Main Directorate of Criminal Police of the Republic of Armenia under Article 164 (obstruction of a journalist's professional legal activities) of the Criminal Code of Armenia. The preliminary investigation is being conducted by the Directorate of Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of Armenia.

The Investigative Committee's press service reports that as a result of investigative and procedural actions during the preliminary investigation, it has been established that according to a project approved on December 19, 2017, there are 14 buildings on the site intended for filming the report in the village of Draxthik, within the Shoghakat community of Gegharkunik region, whereas data received showed that 2 of these buildings located near the lake have not been included in the project documentation, despite their existence as of January 28, 2013.

These buildings are also absent from the construction scheme approved by the head of the Draxthik community on February 20, 2017. Furthermore, it has been determined that on December 20, the owner of the aforementioned land submitted an application for state registration of property rights for the real estate at the specified address, due to which a decision was made on December 25 by an employee of the State Committee of Real Estate Cadastre under the Government of Armenia to suspend the process of state registration of rights as the submitted documents contained discrepancies, and a number of structures were located below the absolute mark of 1905 meters.

Meanwhile, respective certificates were issued on December 26, 2017, and January 19, 2018, by the Director of the Sevan National Park and his first deputy, stating that the main constructions at that address are above the absolute marks of 1905.0 meters, based on which the property rights were officially registered on January 19, 2018.

At the same time, it has been revealed that the retaining walls present in the mentioned area of the village of Draxthik do not comply with the requirements of the Government of Armenia's decision number 1563-N dated December 18, 2008, regarding the rental and construction rights of land plots in the Sevan National Park and surrounding areas, which prohibits the installation of dividing walls or fences in the beach zone.

Given that evidence of alleged crimes specified in Article 314, Part 1 and Article 315 of the Criminal Code of Armenia has been obtained in this criminal case, a new criminal case has been launched regarding the failure to take legally mandated measures to prevent or stop official forgeries and the unauthorized construction of buildings and structures. The investigation is ongoing.