Parliament Suffers Financial Loss for Preventing Gevorgyan from Attending PACE, Sahakyan to Danibekyan

Luysine Sahakyan, the defense attorney for the former Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, Armen Gevorgyan, requested the court to lift the ban on her client's bank account, to which over 400,000 drams were transferred from the National Assembly's budget for Gevorgyan's trip to Strasbourg.

Today, on October 12, the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan continues to examine the case involving Armenia's second President Robert Kocharyan and former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan. Judge Anna Danibekyan noted that the court has already considered the issue of lifting the seizure on Armen Gevorgyan's property in this criminal case and has decided to postpone the resolution of the request until the value of the seized property is determined.

According to Danibekyan, the defense attorney Sahakyan was provided with copies of the mentioned request and the minutes of the session. The judge opined that the request was presented untimely, as the court had already decided when it should be answered. As a result, the court decided to leave Sahakyan's request unexamined, which was incomprehensible to the defense attorney.

"What connection does the previous request have with this request, which was submitted under completely different circumstances and pertains to the National Assembly's expenditures? The money was transferred to Armen Gevorgyan's account, and now permission is needed to return it," Sahakyan questioned, objecting to the court's actions.

Furthermore, the National Assembly had spent over 500,000 drams for the purchase of a plane ticket, which can no longer be refunded. It is worth noting that during the previous session, Luysine Sahakyan requested to recognize her client's immunity as a member of the PACE and to ensure Armen Gevorgyan's freedom of movement. The court had not allowed Gevorgyan to travel to Strasbourg to attend the PACE session.

It should be mentioned that Armenia's second President Robert Kocharyan has been charged with receiving particularly large bribes, while former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan faces money laundering charges.