Advisor to the Rector of V. Bryusov State University Charged with Insulting Minister

The Investigative Committee of Armenia has charged G.T., an advisor to the rector of V. Bryusov State University, under Article 297, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia. This information has been released via the official Facebook page of the Investigative Committee.

As a result of investigative actions during the pre-trial investigation, factual data has been collected indicating that on December 9, 2022, G.T., fully aware that the rectoral elections of the aforementioned university were taking place and that numerous university staff, students, and officials from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports were present in the university's administrative building, verbally insulted the Minister Vahram Dumanyan with inappropriate language, disrupting the public event occurring at that moment.

Understanding that every event happening in the administrative building was being monitored and reported by journalists and was accessible to the public at large, G.T. displayed disrespect towards society by loudly articulating vulgar expressions.

Based on the gathered evidence, a petition was submitted on December 27, 2022, to the supervising prosecutor to initiate public prosecution against the advisor to the rector under Article 297, Part 1 of the Criminal Code, which was approved. On December 28, charges were brought against him, and the measures of restraint chosen were ‘prohibition of absence’ and ‘suspension from office.’

The decision regarding the ‘suspension from office’ measure was sent to the rector of V. Bryusov State University for enforcement and was also communicated to the Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Republic of Armenia. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

Notice: Anyone suspected or accused of a crime is considered innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the law, in a court decision that has entered into legal force.