All Witnesses Are Fearful: Sona Mnatsakanyan’s Father Details

A year has passed since the tragic incident in which citizen Sona Mnatsakanyan was hit by a vehicle from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's motorcade at the intersection of Paronyan and Leo streets in Yerevan. The case is currently in the trial stage, with witnesses being questioned, but the victim's legal successors and their lawyer have expressed dissatisfaction with the proceedings.

In an interview with NEWS.am, Sona Mnatsakanyan’s father, Mnatsakan Mnatsakanyan, stated that the witnesses are scared: “All witnesses are frightened and they say the same things in unison. It was determined through devices that the speed at the time of the impact was 100 km/h; they come and say it wasn’t that fast, despite the evidence.”

The victim's lawyer, Raffi Aslanyan, argued that an objective and thorough investigation has not been conducted. “The recordings of the radio communications between the motorcade and the convoy have essentially been destroyed. The police have not provided this, claiming that the recording was not made due to a technical glitch,” he stated.

According to the lawyer, if a key piece of evidence has been removed from the case, it raises many suspicions: “The existence of that recording would shed light on this case, and these implications are obvious for the defense. This is due to the fact that the accident occurred involving the motorcade of the Prime Minister of Armenia. Moreover, the law enforcement system is operating in a highly coordinated negative manner, doing everything to cover up all the circumstances of the incident. There is clear direction from the highest levels.”

Aslanyan emphasized that there is a concerted effort to keep the accused, Aram Navassardyan, free. “I do not understand why all this is happening because at first glance, this appears to be a straightforward case; of course, it's the Prime Minister's motorcade, but the perpetrator is a specific individual. Why is this kind of protection being displayed? A reasonable suspicion has formed that something is amiss, meaning there is a circumstance being actively hidden.”

It should be noted that the case has only been initiated against the driver, while a decision was made not to prosecute the head of the motorcade. The victim’s side has appealed this decision, and the Court of Appeals has recorded a violation of the rights of the victim’s legal successor, ordering the prosecuting authority to rectify the violations, also noting that an objective investigation was not conducted. In response to the Court of Appeals' decision, the Deputy Prosecutor General has appealed to the Court of Cassation, but it is currently unclear whether the court has accepted or rejected the appeal.

Recall that on April 26, at around 18:05, the commander of the patrol squad of the traffic police service of the RA police hit a 28-year-old resident of the Ararat region with a Toyota Prado vehicle at the intersection of Paronyan and Leo streets, leading to bodily injuries that resulted in her death at the Nairi Medical Center without regaining consciousness. The mentioned motorcade was escorting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and the deceased woman was pregnant.