Menua Hovhannesyan Released on Bail

The Syunik region court of general jurisdiction, presided by Judge Boris Bakhshiyan, has made a decision to replace the detention measure against Goris Deputy Mayor Menua Hovhannesyan with bail, approving the request of his defense attorneys.

According to 'Factinfo,' Menua Hovhannesyan has already been released from the 'Goris' penitentiary.

As previously reported, on November 11, the Court of Appeals, presided over by Judge Sevak Hambardzumyan, upheld the prosecutor's appeal and annulled the Syunik regional court's decision to release Hovhannesyan on a bail of 30 million drams, after which Hovhannesyan voluntarily presented himself to the penitentiary and was re-detained.

The defense filed a motion with the Syunik regional court for Hovhannesyan's release on bail, which was granted.

It is worth noting that on August 16, the RA SSC made decisions to involve Irina Yolyan, the acting head of Goris community, and two employees of the community administration as defendants under Article 179, Part 3, Point 1 of the RA Criminal Code, while Deputy Mayor Menua Hovhannesyan was implicated under Article 149.1, Part 2, Points 1 and 2, as well as Article 179, Part 3, Point 1, and Article 179, Part 2, Point 1. They were arrested yesterday for the examination of the motion regarding the detention measure against them.

The court satisfied only the motion regarding Hovhannesyan, while the motions for the detention of the arrested Goris municipality employees, 66-year-old S. Mkrtchyan and A. Chobchun, as well as Deputy Mayor Irina Yolyan, were rejected. Yolyan has been released from office per her own request in order to participate in the Goris municipal elections as a representative of Arush Arushanyan.

At the final stage of the investigation, the SSC reclassified the offenses. Currently, Irina Yolyan, Susanna Mkrtchyan, and Chobchun are charged under Article 308 of the RA Criminal Code, while Menua Hovhannesyan is charged under Article 149.1, Part 2, Points 1 and 2, Article 308, Part 2, and Article 179, Part 2, Point 1.

Currently, the criminal case is under the jurisdiction of Boris Bakhshiyan of the Syunik regional court.