Deadline for Criminal Prosecution Against Vigen Sargsyan Suspended

The deadline for criminal prosecution against former Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan has been suspended. This was reported by the "Norikian and Partners" law office.

In the statement released by the office, it is stated: "On February 9, this year, the RA Prosecutor General's Office announced that a criminal prosecution had been initiated against former Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan under Article 309, Part 3 of the RA Criminal Code adopted on April 18, 2003 (which corresponds to Article 441, Part 2, Clause 5 of the current RA Criminal Code), along with five members of the Ministry of Defense's central housing commission under Article 308, Part 2 of the RA Criminal Code adopted on April 18, 2003 (which corresponds to Article 441, Part 2, Clause 5 of the current RA Criminal Code).

Yesterday, the decision from the deputy head of the Department of Crimes Against the State of the RA Prosecutor General's Office was received, regarding the suspension of the public criminal prosecution deadline, based on the fact that the location of the accused is unknown due to evading investigation. In other words, since Vigen Sargsyan’s location is unknown to the competent authorities of the Republic of Armenia, the deadline for the criminal prosecution launched against him has been suspended.

It has been said that one does not know whether to laugh or cry. Vigen Sargsyan regularly makes public appearances, and moreover, everyone is aware of his whereabouts. Regarding this case, I had submitted a report back in July 2019 to then Prosecutor General A. Davtyan. Based on the submitted report, a criminal case was opened, and as many as 8 of our clients were recognized as victims, who, being active officers of the army, have not received their housing for many years.

Over the past four years, I have repeatedly appealed to the Prosecutor General and the Investigative Committee, receiving routine responses. It was already clear back in 2019 what kind of illegality led to many officers being removed from that list and how numerous individuals managed to acquire apartments they did not need. In fact, it took four years to reach the conclusion that there are sufficient grounds for initiating criminal prosecution.

And while my clients have still not received their residences during these past four years, during this time Vigen Sargsyan not only left Armenia but also sold his acquired apartment in Northern Avenue for around 2.5 million USD a few months ago. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan acknowledged in the National Assembly that they have failed in the fight against corruption.

I, who have constantly voiced that the current government has failed to combat corruption in recent years, have been attacked by supporters of the current authorities and thousands of fake accounts. Now please apologize and confirm that I am right.

P.S. If it was possible to initiate criminal prosecution four years ago and to reasonably conclude the criminal case in accordance with the law within a reasonable period, then why and by whose order was this case left to gather dust in the investigative bodies? Ultimately, it is obvious that during these years, everything was done to ensure that all sorts of Vigen Sargsyans slip away from responsibility. It has become unpleasant to even talk about this. But please allocate the apartments that have been denied to hundreds of homeless officers for many years as soon as possible. They are not at fault for not being able to obtain a single apartment after serving for 20 years, while the majority of Armenia's Defense Ministers are dollar millionaires."