Ani Gevorgyan, Sister-in-Law of Alen Simonian, Testifies Against Ashot Hovhannisyan

It became known today that the prosecutor has changed the pretrial measures for defendants in a criminal case being investigated by the Investigative Committee, specifically for employees of a commercial organization, A.G. and L.M.

The case concerns Ani Gevorgyan and Lily Mkrtchyan, current and former employees of the 'Synergy' company. As a reminder, Ani Gevorgyan is the wife of Alen Simonian, the President of the National Assembly. Both women have minor children, yet the court did not take this circumstance into account, effectively detaining them for committing a medium severity crime. This was reported by 168.am.

According to the Public Relations Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, taking into account that the aforementioned defendants have provided testimonies on circumstances significant to the criminal proceedings, confrontations have been conducted involving them. Under such conditions, the likelihood of defendants A.G. and L.M. exhibiting illegal conduct or interfering illegally in the evidence process has significantly decreased at this stage of the proceedings. Therefore, the prosecutor has instructed the conducting authority to apply combined alternative pretrial measures for A.G. and L.M., which include bail, restrictions on leaving the country, and guarantee.

It should be noted that the prosecutor initiated a public criminal prosecution against officials of the Ministry of Economy of Armenia on January 31, 2024, under Part 2, Clause 4 of Article 441 of the Criminal Code (abusing official power or influence) and against the head and employees of the commercial organization regarding complicity in the same act (Part 2, Clause 4 of Article 46-441 of the Criminal Code).

Ani Gevorgyan, Lily Mkrtchyan, and Ashot Hovhannisyan are accused of facilitating the removal of competitor 'Harmony' from the purchasing process through Deputy Minister of Economy Ani Ispriaryan. Interestingly, the Deputy Minister of Economy, who was the executor of this alleged crime, has not been detained, while the employees of 'Synergy', identified as accomplices, were detained.

The measures imposed on Ashot Hovhannisyan, the head of the commercial organization 'Synergy', remain unchanged. There is a certain discontent among members of the ruling party regarding the fact that Ani Gevorgyan has testified, particularly against Ashot Hovhannisyan, whom many in their ranks regard as one of their own, especially since Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Hakob Arshakyan had supported him.

Indeed, according to information from 168.am, Ashot Hovhannisyan’s detention status has not changed because Ani Gevorgyan stated in her testimony that, although she fulfilled her functional duties, she did so on Ashot Hovhannisyan's instructions. Furthermore, it has been reported that Ani Gevorgyan has not expressed a position on the charges brought against her.