Prosecution Denies Claims of Stopping Military Reinforcement and Mobilization During War

Claims regarding the halt of the Armenian armed forces' reinforcement and mobilization during the war have been refuted as a result of the ongoing investigation. The General Prosecutor's Office has issued a statement in this regard.

The statement reads: "As previously reported, the audio-visual recording of the press conference by the former head of the Military Supervision Service of the Ministry of Defense, Movses Hakobyan, was sent to the Special Investigative Service of the Republic of Armenia by the Prosecutor General on November 19, 2020, to prepare materials in accordance with Articles 180-181 of the Criminal Procedure Code. As a result, a criminal case was initiated on November 21, 2020, under the second part of Article 308 of the Criminal Code, regarding actions undertaken by a group of high-ranking officials of RA during the period from September 27 to November 9, 2020, in Artsakh, which contradicted the provisions in several documents of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, negatively impacting the combat readiness of the armed forces and affecting the results of the war.

It was also mentioned that given the public's significant interest in this case, it will be prioritized to ensure effective preliminary investigation, and the public will be informed about the progress and results of the investigation. Notably, the preliminary investigation is being conducted by examining the directions indicated by M. Hakobyan with the aim of clarifying specific circumstances with appropriate depth.

Specifically, during the preliminary investigation, Movses Hakobyan addressed the processes of reinforcement and mobilization, stating his belief that a crime had occurred because the head of state halted the reinforcement on the third day of the war, as informed by officials responsible for organizing the reinforcement and mobilization processes.

He added that a recording exists regarding the Prime Minister’s order to halt the reinforcement and mobilization process, and he believes this was carried out by individuals legally responsible for that process.

Among the necessary measures taken to verify the mentioned circumstances, officials responsible for conscription and recruitment from the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia and those from the General Staff of the Armed Forces (including those identified by M. Hakobyan) have been questioned, who denied receiving any order to halt the reinforcement and mobilization processes.

During the preliminary investigation, necessary documents regarding the reinforcement and mobilization of forces have been received from the Ministry of Defense's conscription and recruitment service. It has been clarified that the reinforcement and mobilization of the Armed Forces of Armenia have never ceased throughout the military operations and have been organized and implemented according to the established procedures afterwards.

Furthermore, it has been established through the measures carried out in the investigation that the involvement of volunteers into military service has not affected or changed the established procedures for reinforcement and mobilization.

No recording regarding the aforementioned consultation has been presented to the investigation by M. Hakobyan, and necessary investigative actions conducted in that direction have not yielded any recordings proving that the consultation led to halting the reinforcement of the armed forces, nor any directives issued by the Prime Minister during that consultation.

The investigation of the criminal case continues under adequate prosecutorial oversight with the aim of thorough, objective, and comprehensive examination of all circumstances presented during the conference, as well as providing legal evaluations.