Hakob Arshakyan Faces Up to 4 Years in Prison as Criminal Case Launched

The former Minister of High-Tech Industry, Hakob Arshakyan, and journalist Paylak Fahradyan are now facing a criminal case following the Prosecutor General's decision to overturn the Special Investigation Service's (SIS) earlier ruling to decline the initiation of a criminal case. This was confirmed by Gor Abrahamyan, the media advisor to the Prosecutor General, in response to Tert.am's inquiry regarding the stance of the Prosecutor General's Office on the criminal case initiated by the SIS.

On March 18, 2021, an incident occurred between the aforementioned individuals in the 'Mamur' café. As a result of preparatory materials processed by the SIS, the investigative body had previously decided against commencing a criminal case. The pre-investigation body had evaluated the legal situation under Articles 118, 164, 185, 186, and 258 of the RA Criminal Code, concluding that there were no signs of a crime.

Following a review of the legality of this decision by the Prosecutor General's Office, a motion was made to annul the original decision not to initiate a criminal case and to start a case in accordance with the characteristics outlined in part 2, point 3 of Article 185 of the RA Criminal Code.

Abrahamyan noted that the criminal case has been forwarded to the SIS for further investigation, aiming to clarify all the circumstances surrounding the incident and to provide a final legal assessment.

It should be noted that Article 185 of the Criminal Code stipulates that intentionally destroying or damaging someone else's property connected to the performance of one's official or social duties is punishable by a maximum of four years of imprisonment.