This Will Lead to Mr. Charchyan's Exoneration, Lawyer to the Prosecutor's Office

Armen Charchyan, the director of the Izmirlian medical center, has reacted with a smile to the Prosecutor's Office's clarification after his lawyer, Erik Aleksanyan, reviewed it.

The statement from the Prosecutor's Office specifically mentions that the claims circulated by the defense and various media outlets, alleging that the criminal case was initiated based on an anonymous report, do not correspond to reality. The criminal case was generated under Article 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, based on sufficient grounds obtained during the preparation of materials.

The trigger for opening the criminal case was the revelation of information indicating a crime during the execution of duties by the prosecuting body. Moreover, on the same day, the Prosecutor forwarded a publication regarding the event, which was posted on the FIP-Fact-Checking platform, to the prosecuting body for the preparation of materials in accordance with criminal procedure.

“I relate to the Prosecutor's Office's statement with genuine amusement. I am pleased that the Prosecutor's Office has finally acknowledged the fact that the 'Baghramyan 26' Telegram channel cannot be considered a legal basis for initiating a criminal case as an unknown source. However, we urge the Prosecutor's Office not to mislead the public that the basis for opening the criminal case was the discovery of evidence indicating a crime during the execution of duties by the prosecuting body. This is absolutely false,” Aleksanyan wrote on his Facebook page.

According to him, after the well-known recording was disseminated via the 'Baghramyan 26' Telegram channel, immediately following this and before the Prosecutor's orders were sent to the investigator to prepare materials, the spokesperson for the RA National Security Service presented a report to the head of the NSS regarding the publication made on the 'Baghramyan 26' Telegram channel, after which the decision titled 'On the initiation of a criminal case and its acceptance into proceedings' was made, literally stating: 'According to the recording circulated on the 'Baghramyan 26' Telegram channel on June 18, 2021, a candidate registered at the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Armenia for the Armenia Alliance has pressured employees of his privately owned company to attend the extraordinary elections of the National Assembly.'

“It is evident that the occasion for opening a criminal case was not the verification actions carried out by the prosecuting authority, as you noticed, no phrases like 'discovery of evidence indicating a crime during the execution of duties by the prosecuting authority' or 'as a result of verification actions' were provided anywhere. Yes, we must be honest and acknowledge that indeed, on the same day, the Prosecutor sent a directive to the prosecuting body for the preparation of criminal procedural materials regarding the publication of the aforementioned event on the FIP fact-checking platform, but the question is, before sending that directive, the investigator had already initiated a criminal case based on an unknown source,” Aleksanyan stated.

According to the defense attorney, the Prosecutor's Office understood the problematic nature of the issue, tried to correct it, but the execution of political orders is an immediate process. “Dear colleagues at the Prosecutor's Office, sometimes admitting a mistake is indeed worthy of respect; you know that all of this will lead to the exoneration of Mr. Charchyan,” Aleksanyan concluded.