Court to Announce Decision on Defenses of Serzh Sargsyan and Barsel Beglaryan Tomorrow

Today, May 13, in the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan, presided over by Judge Vahe Misakyan, a session was held regarding the case of the third president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, and the owner of the 'Flash' company, Barsel Beglaryan, during which the defendants' lawyers presented several motions.

It is noteworthy that Sargsyan's defense team submitted two motions to the court. One pertains to the lifting of his preventive measure, while the other requests that all materials of the case be provided to them.

Beglaryan's lawyer also requested the abolition of the chosen preventive measure against his client. It should be noted that a signature not to leave was chosen as a preventive measure for both Serzh Sargsyan and Barsel Beglaryan.

The court will announce its decision regarding the motions tomorrow at 14:00.

It should also be mentioned that due to the coronavirus, defendants Serge Karapetyan and Samvel Galstyan have passed away. According to media reports, the basis of the accusation lies in the testimony of Serge Karapetyan; he and Serzh Sargsyan are said to have confronted each other.

In the previous court session, the court ruled to terminate the criminal prosecution against Serge Karapetyan and Samvel Galstyan.

According to the indictment, under the organization of Serzh Sargsyan and the instigation of Barsel Beglaryan, with the assistance of Samvel Galstyan and Gevorg Harutyunyan, a substantial sum of 489,160,310 Armenian drams was wasted by Serge Karapetyan between January 25 and February 7, 2013, drawn from the government’s reserve fund for 15,391,765 liters of diesel fuel allocated for state support program implementation.

Serzh Sargsyan has been charged under Article 38-179, part 3, point 1 of the RA Criminal Code for particularly large-scale embezzlement or waste of funds. The former president does not accept the charges against him. His lawyer Amram Makiyn insists that the charges are fabricated.