Three Inspectors Arrested for Bribery from Drivers

Inspectors of the Traffic Police of the Republic of Armenia have stopped drivers who violated traffic rules on various sections of highways in the Ararat region and accepted bribes from them in exchange for not filing reports, the Anti-Corruption Committee reports.

This took place during the year 2022, and the inspectors accused of accepting bribes are M.H., A.S., V.K., and H.G.

“These police officers demanded bribes of 5,000 to 10,000 Armenian drams from drivers exceeding the established speed limits in order not to hold them administratively accountable. In several cases, they also accepted offers from drivers to fuel their service vehicles as bribes and demanded and received receipts for fuel,” the statement says.

Additionally, the aforementioned traffic police inspectors formed false administrative violation reports as a group. This included deliberately creating three false reports regarding the administrative violation of allowing a driver in an intoxicated state to retain their right to operate a vehicle.

For the aforementioned crimes, M.H. and A.S. have been charged under the RA Criminal Code Article 435 (Receiving Bribes) parts 2.1 and 2.3 (15 episodes) and Article 445 (Official Forgery) part 2 (2 episodes), while V.K. and H.G. face charges under Article 435 (Receiving Bribes) parts 2.1 and 2.3 (9 episodes).

For three of the traffic police inspectors, pre-trial detention has been chosen as a measure of restraint. The preliminary investigation has been completed. The materials of the prosecution have been submitted with an accusatory conclusion to the supervising prosecutor for confirmation and to be sent to court.