27 Individuals Charged in Controversial COVID Case

27 individuals have been designated as defendants in the controversial COVID case. This information was provided by the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia in response to a written inquiry from Pastinfo.

It is noteworthy that during Arsen Torosyan's tenure as Minister of Health, his former deputy and current Deputy Mayor Gevorg Simonian, along with several representatives from the health sector, are included among the defendants in this high-profile COVID-related corruption case.

The Anti-Corruption Committee stated in response to a written inquiry from Pastinfo that the pre-trial investigation of the criminal proceedings is ongoing, and 27 individuals currently hold the procedural status of defendants.

Considering that the head of the Anti-Corruption Committee, Sasun Khachatryan, had previously mentioned the necessity of interrogating Arsen Torosyan, we inquired whether Torosyan has indeed been questioned and whether Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan has also been interrogated. However, the committee officially refrained from answering this inquiry, citing the confidentiality of the pre-investigation.

It should be noted that according to circulating information in the media, Arsen Torosyan has already been interrogated within the framework of the criminal proceedings.

Recall that on March 10, law enforcement conducted a search of Gevorg Simonian's office as part of the criminal case related to various incidents of misconduct during the fight against the coronavirus, under Arsen Torosyan's leadership.