Prosecutor's Office Issues Statement Regarding Charchyan's Case

The defenders of the accused in the criminal case, Armen Charchyan, issued a statement today, July 2, following a court hearing regarding the measures of restraint applied to their client. They directed remarks at the prosecutor overseeing the case that crossed the boundaries of ethics and morality, while distorting and presenting the reasons for the delay of the court session solely from their own interest perspective. This was reported by NEWS.am, citing a statement from the Public Relations Division of the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia.

The statement noted: “First, the prosecutor did not justify the need to postpone the court session due to the end of the working day. The court had initially declared that the session would continue slightly beyond the end of the working day, referencing the practice in the Court of Appeal to hold sessions within the working hours, to which the prosecutor did not object. However, when it became evident during the session that the prosecutor would not have the opportunity to present his justifications in full due to the length of his speech if the session ended shortly, he suggested postponing the hearing.”

“Moreover, the prosecutor provided the reasons for his proposal to postpone the session during the court hearing, which the court took into account when making its decision. All of this is recorded in the session's recording, independent of the desperate attempts of the defense to distort the facts and insult the prosecutorial adversary as a means to cover the weakness of their arguments.”

The defenders continuously raise their client's health condition as an issue, trying to create the impression among the public that it depends on the decision regarding his detention, presenting it unfoundedly as a humanitarian concern from the prosecutor's office. They are deliberately attempting to ignore the fact that since the moment the measure of restraint in the form of detention was chosen against A. Charchyan, he has not entered a correctional facility and is under the supervision of his preferred medical institution and doctor, and that the prosecutor has taken no action to hinder his access to medical care in any way to date.

The defense is persistently trying to create the illusion that the deterioration of A. Charchyan’s health is linked to the decision to impose detention as a measure of restraint, despite noting that the deterioration occurred before that decision was made.

As for the absurd claims that the prosecutor attempted to delay the judicial session and that this behavior has a punitive nature, it remains only to urge the defenders to cease trivializing their own claims and expose the nakedness of their arguments.

The defenders publicly stated before the court session that the preliminary investigation into the criminal case concerning A. Charchyan had been concluded. It should be noted that the announcement of the conclusion of the preliminary investigation was made only 14 days after the initiation of the criminal case. It is clear that if the aim were to delay the proceedings, such a short timeframe would not have been announced for the conclusion of the preliminary investigation; the prosecutor would not have instructed the investigative body to accelerate the necessary procedural and investigative actions during this period, and under proper prosecutorial oversight, for instance, 60 individuals would not have been interrogated in that short span of time.

We simply urge the defense side to stop these shameful manifestations of distorting facts and using blackening the prosecutorial adversary as a tactic and to remain within the bounds of professional ethics.”