Russia Rejects Armenia's Demand to Issue a Wanted Notice for Gevorg Kostanyan, Defense Claims

The Russian Federation has rejected the Armenian authorities' request to issue a wanted notice for former Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan. This was announced to NEWS.am by Kostanyan's lawyer, Gevorg Gevorgyan.

He stated that there are several grounds for rejection. "The basis for the rejection is the unlawful request. Other grounds include political motives and unlawful prosecution," he noted.

It is noteworthy that National Assembly member Taguhi Tovmasyan mentioned in a press briefing that she had received a document from International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) directed to Armenia's National Central Bureau, indicating that the General Secretariat of Interpol has concluded that the case against Kostanyan is politically motivated and has refused to cooperate with Armenia regarding this specific case.

"Essentially, the criminal prosecution initiated against Gevorg Kostanyan has been assessed by both the competent bodies of the Russian Federation and the central body of Interpol as unlawful, which reaffirms our conclusion that the criminal prosecution against Gevorg Kostanyan has no factual or legal basis, and there is no evidence regarding this matter, nor can there be," the lawyer stated.

Gevorg Gevorgyan also reported that immediately after learning about Taguhi Tovmasyan's statement, the arguments mentioned within it were submitted to the Armenian Court of Appeals as new circumstances in the discussion of the request to overturn the preventive measure of detention imposed on Gevorg Kostanyan.