Serious Developments Expected in the Surmalu Case: Iravunk

The newspaper Iravunk reports: On August 14, around 1:30 PM, an explosion occurred at the Surmalu shopping center, resulting in the deaths of 16 people. On August 18, a criminal case was initiated regarding the incident, and on August 26, the Armenian Prosecutor's Office announced that of the four defendants in the explosion case, the court had chosen imprisonment as a preventive measure for three of the business operators, while the request to detain the deputy director of the shopping center was denied.

What is the progress of this criminal case? Why are only the business operators being held accountable? In such matters, the state, represented by the relevant authorities, has specific functions that clearly were not fulfilled. After all, it was the state that had the obligation to ensure that Armenian citizens would not be harmed, injured, or suffer property losses. However, the very fact of the explosion proves that this was not achieved, and there should be those held accountable. So, why are only the 'lower ranks' being called to account while the 'higher-ups' are left unscathed?

We attempted to clarify these questions with the Investigative Committee, where we were informed that the case is currently in an active preliminary investigation phase. Our sources also indicated that significant developments are expected in this case in the coming week. Let us see whether the case will reach those higher officials who failed to prevent the explosive hazard of that facility 'for some unknown reason.'