Director of Sevan Branch Allowed Illegal Fishing of Sturgeon for Bribe

On May 19, 2023, the supervising prosecutor confirmed the indictment regarding illegal fishing of fish and accepting bribes at the "Sevan" branch of the Sevan National Park and transferred the case materials to the Anti-Corruption Court. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Armenia.

On July 12, 2019, a criminal case was initiated in the Investigation Department of the National Security Service based on Article 308, Part 1 (abuse of official powers) and Article 292, Part 2, Clause 2 (illegal fishing of aquatic animals and plants by a group of persons with prior agreement) of the Criminal Code adopted on April 18, 2003. The preliminary investigation was assigned to the Gegharkunik Regional Investigation Department.

On September 22, 2022, based on the request of an investigator from the Gegharkunik Regional Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee, a decision was made at the Gegharkunik Regional Prosecutor's Office to suspend the criminal prosecution against S.T., the director of the "Sevan" branch of the Sevan National Park, inspectors A.G. and H.H., and citizens D.P., D.M., and A.U. for the reasons of not committing the alleged acts and the decriminalization of the acts.

On September 30, 2023, by the investigator's decision, the criminal proceedings were terminated due to the suspension of criminal prosecution against the defendants and the exhaustion of all possible ways to continue the proceedings. On January 7, 2023, by the order of Deputy Prosecutor General Artur Poghosyan, the decision to terminate the criminal prosecution against S.T., D.M., A.U., D.P., A.G., and H.H. was annulled. This decision had been made on September 22, 2022, by the Senior Prosecutor of the Gegharkunik Regional Prosecutor's Office and confirmed by the supervising prosecutor on October 8, 2022.

As a result of the preliminary investigation conducted at the instruction of the Deputy Prosecutor General, it was determined that S.T., since 2017 serving as the director of the "Sevan" branch of the Sevan National Park, was obliged to prevent the illegal fishing of sturgeon from the premises of the branch but allowed citizens, in exchange for bribes, to engage in illegal fishing under his supervision. Consequently, 49 kg of sturgeon was illegally harvested from the area called "Bardiner", causing damage amounting to 245,000 AMD.

A new public criminal prosecution has been initiated against S.T. under Article 311, Part 2 (four episodes) (accepting bribery), and against H.H., A.G., D.P., and D.M. under Article 312, Part 1 (giving bribes).

Note: The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court decision that has entered into legal force, in accordance with the procedures established by the Criminal Procedure Code.