40.8 Million Dram Damage Recovered from Illegal Land Lease Processes in Syunik Region

The Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Armenia has reported that damages amounting to 40.8 million AMD have been recovered from criminal cases related to the illegal leasing of state-owned land parcels in 23 communities of the Syunik region.

Since the beginning of 2020, in compliance with the Prosecutor General's directive, regional prosecutor's offices initiated processes to uncover illegal land leasing operations within communities, assess criminal legal aspects, restore damages to communities, and terminate illegal lease agreements. Specifically, under the directive of the Syunik Regional Prosecutor's Office, as of 2020, criminal cases have been initiated based on materials prepared regarding abuses in the leasing of real estate owned by the state and communities. These cases involve 24 criminal proceedings being investigated by the Syunik Regional Investigative Department of the RA Investigative Committee.

The cases pertain to former or current leaders of 23 communities in the region, including those from the communities of Kapan, Kajaran's Lernadzor, Meghri's Agarak and Alvank, Tatev's Harjis, Sisian's Angevakot, Shaki, Tanahet, Arevis, Vaghatin, Aghitu, Soflu (G. Nzhdeh), Bnuni, Akhlatyan, Lor, and Darbas, as well as Gorayk's Gorayk and Sarnakunk. The criminal cases indicted against them involve alleged abuse of official power by current administrative leaders.

Of these, three criminal cases have been initiated under part 1 of Article 308 of the RA Criminal Code, two under part 2 of Article 38-308, and eighteen under part 2 of Article 308 of the RA Criminal Code. Another case has been initiated under part 1 of Article 184 and part 2 of Article 308. According to the materials of the criminal cases, starting from 2006, leaders of the communities have leased state or community agricultural lands through formal competitions to different individuals, sometimes at symbolic lease payments, including close relatives or subordinates of the community leaders. Subsequently, a small portion of these land plots was subleased at significantly higher rates to telecommunication operators for the installation and operation of communication stations.

As a result, the lessees have profited substantially from the use of community-owned land for years, depriving the communities of the opportunity to benefit from this financial source. The total damages to the mentioned communities amount to 95,617,042 AMD, of which 40,895,916 AMD has been recovered. Active measures are also being taken to recover the remaining damages.

Charges have been brought against the former leaders of 10 communities for abuse of official power in these criminal cases. However, considering they have voluntarily repaid the damages caused to the community and provided confession statements, non-custodial measures have been applied to them. In one criminal case, a sitting community leader has been charged under part 2 of Article 308 of the RA Criminal Code, and a signature restricting departure has been applied to him. He has denied the charges against him.

Another criminal case against one individual has been sent to court with an accusatory conclusion, resulting in a guilty verdict. The pre-trial investigation continues for other alleged offenders. Thanks to the perseverance of the Syunik Regional Prosecutor's Office and the cooperation with relevant local governments, by February 24, 13 community lease agreements have already been terminated, replaced by new agreements aligned with community interests with telecommunications operators.