Suspect Acquitted in Case of Publicizing Papikyan's Conviction

The criminal prosecution against Colonel Serob Harutyunyan by the National Security Service has been halted, and he has been acquitted, reports lawyer Yerem Sargsyan.

He reminded that on February 13, 2020, an article titled "Surent Papikyan Concealed His Conviction" was published on the website hraparak.am, which led to the initiation of a criminal case at the RA Investigative Committee. By February 28, 2020, Serob Harutyunyan was charged with abuse of official position.

Approximately one year of extensive investigation was conducted in the criminal case, during which all possible investigative actions and operational-search measures were implemented. Ultimately, it was established that Serob Harutyunyan not only did not commit any abuse of official position but also did not commit any crime directed against public service. Therefore, decisions were made to terminate the criminal prosecution and not to pursue charges against him due to the absence of corpus delicti.

In other words, Serob Harutyunyan has been acquitted, holds the status of acquitted, and according to Article 66 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, he must be reinstated in his previous position and compensated for his salary for the past year.