Criminal Case Initiated Over Fake Information in Lists of Those Displaced from Shushi

Arzvik Sargsyan, serving as the mayor of the Shushi community within the Republic of Artsakh, held authorities to carry out functions of a representative of power as stipulated by the laws of Artsakh. Starting from January 15, 2021, he was appointed as the head of a commission established by the Shushi administration's decision on that same date. This commission was set up to support citizens registered or actually residing in communities that fell under the control of Azerbaijan as a result of military actions initiated by Azerbaijan against the Republic of Artsakh on September 27, 2020.

Exploiting his official position and driven by personal interests, Sargsyan, with the assistance of commission members, included evidently false information about seven citizens in the lists of community beneficiaries—claiming that they had been residing in the city of Shushi for the preceding three months prior to the onset of military actions.

Consequently, these lists were submitted to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Artsakh, based on which the individuals received a one-time support amounting to 300,000 Armenian drams for displaced persons, resulting in a total material damage of 2,100,000 Armenian drams to the state.

A criminal case has been initiated concerning these incidents based on the characteristics of crimes specified in Part 1 of Article 322, Part 1 of Article 332, and Part 5 of Article 37 of the Criminal Code of Artsakh. The prosecution supervision and procedural management of this criminal case are being conducted by the division of the Prosecutor General's Office responsible for corruption and crimes against property and economic activities.