Ready to Pay a Bail Starting from 80 Million for Arush Arushanyan

The Court of Appeals of the Republic of Armenia is examining the issue of the preventive measure for Arush Arushanyan, the mayor of Goris, today in Yerevan. The session is presided over by Judge Rubik Mkhitaryan. A demonstration is taking place in support of Arushanyan outside the court.

Arushanyan's lawyer, Erik Aleksanyan, informed journalists that they had submitted a request to the First Instance Court to replace the chosen preventive measure of detention with bail. The request was rejected by the First Instance Court, and today the Appeals Court is set to review the defense's appeal against the court's decision.

“We have indicated that we are ready to pay starting from 80 million, to ensure Arushanyan's freedom,” said Aleksanyan. He added that the grounds for the appeal include the assertion that the reason given by the state for the detention, related to hindering the investigation, has significantly diminished. According to the lawyer, this is due to the testimony provided by one of the individuals in the case, Lusine Avetyan, who has already been interrogated in court.

Levon Kocharyan, the son of Armenia's second president Robert Kocharyan, who was also present outside the court in support of Arushanyan, stated in a conversation with journalists that he has no expectations from the presiding judge. “Our harsh experiences of recent years have shown which judges have the courage to do their job and which ones bow to the wishes of the authorities. Therefore, we do not have high expectations from today’s court,” he said.

It is worth noting that Arush Arushanyan has been charged under several articles of the Armenian Criminal Code, including Article 154.2, Part 4, Point 2 (obstructing the free exercise of the voter's will), Article 149, Part 2, Point 4 (using official position to interfere with the exercise of electoral rights), and Article 154.2, Part 3 (violating the secrecy of voting). Another criminal case, where a bail of 2 million drams is applied as a preventive measure for Arushanyan, has also been joined to this case. Arush Arushanyan has been in detention since July 16, 2021.