Arthur Mkrtchyan Instructs Detention of Aram Sargsyan in High-Profile Fake Case

The President of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan, Arthur Mkrtchyan, has instructed the detention of Aram Sargsyan in connection with a well-known fake case, according to reports from social media.

Public figure Vahagn Varaghyan stated on his Facebook page that Arthur Mkrtchyan attempted to give instructions via another judge’s phone to detain the four individuals already arrested in the famous fake case “at any cost.”

“Just a moment ago, I was at a café with friends. One person, mixed up and in a heated argument on the phone, was speaking in a way that was hard not to hear. The entire café listened to how he shouted into the phone ‘what does it matter if they have underage children and the law does not allow their detention, they insulted the director of the NSS, they need to be imprisoned, do whatever you want—they must be imprisoned.’ Friends at the nearby table mentioned that the President of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan, Arthur Mkrtchyan, was on the other end of the line. I even found a photo online. And since I don’t believe in coincidences, it can be assumed that this was referring to the urgent need to imprison the four individuals arrested in the famous fake case. It could at least be assumed that the court president was trying to place an order with the judge to imprison them at any cost. This adds further weight to the argument that the well-known Ara Saghatelyan and Karen Bekaryan are political prisoners,” wrote Varaghyan.

In response to Varaghyan’s post, lawyer Benik Galstyan, representing arrested Aram Sargsyan, stated that he is awaiting the court's decision regarding his client's detention request. “I am now waiting for the court’s decision on my client Aram Sargsyan’s detention request. My client has three underage children. I hope this is a coincidence. In any case, I assure you all that I will pursue any violations in this case to the very end,” wrote the lawyer.

It should be recalled that the NSS conducted a search of Karen Bekaryan’s house, after which he was detained and arrested. Former head of the National Assembly staff Ara Saghatelyan was also arrested in the same case.