Court Rejects Appeal Against Arrest of Mikayel Minasyan

The State Revenue Committee reports that in connection with a multi-episode criminal case being investigated by its investigative department, the appeal filed by the defense against the arrest of Mikayel Ara Minasyan, the former Armenian ambassador to the Holy See and a defendant in the case, has been rejected by the court. On September 22, 2020, the first-instance general jurisdiction court of Yerevan approved the request of the pre-trial body to choose detention as a measure of restraint against Minasyan, who was involved in the case under Article 190 (part 3, point 1), Article 310, Article 310.1 (part 1), and Article 314.3 (part 2) of the RA Criminal Code. This decision was later challenged by the defense at the Court of Appeals.

On December 16, 2020, the Court of Appeals decided to overturn the first-instance court's decision and remand the case for a new review to the first-instance court of Yerevan. The Committee finds it necessary to note that previous requests for detention as a measure of restraint against Minasyan were rejected solely based on procedural norms of the criminal procedure and did not address the reasonable suspicion regarding the charges against him or the grounds for detention.

In its decision on December 16, 2020, the Court of Appeals again relied on procedural norms, without addressing the reasonable suspicion of the charges or the grounds for detention. The first-instance court of Yerevan, discussing the request for choosing detention as a measure of restraint against Minasyan, deemed that there was reasonable suspicion regarding the charges attributed to him and the presence of grounds for detention, evaluating them as lawful, and on June 10, 2021, decided to satisfy the request for choosing detention.

This judicial act was once again appealed by Minasyan's defense to the Court of Appeals, which, after reviewing the appeal and the objections raised against it by the pre-trial body and the prosecutor overseeing the criminal investigation, decided on July 29, 2021, to reject the appeal brought by the defense and leave the decision of the first-instance court in force. The pre-trial investigation of the criminal case continues.