Defense in Ashot Hovhannisyan's Case Seeks Change of Detention Conditions

The defense team of Ashot Hovhannisyan, the founder of the company "Sinery," has submitted a petition to the Prosecutor General of Armenia requesting a change in Hovhannisyan's detention conditions, citing significant alterations in the procedural circumstances.

In a statement, Hovhannisyan's lawyers said, "Specifically, Ashot Hovhannisyan has been interrogated five times, after which he, along with other defendants in the case, participated in confrontations, which certainly reduces the grounds for interfering with the investigation. It should be noted that the Prosecutor's Office of Armenia has already recognized a significant decrease in grounds for intervening in the investigation due to the participation of other defendants in interrogations and confrontations. As a result, on February 12, 2024, the prosecutor, on his own initiative, changed the detention measures for two defendants, Ani Gevorgyan and Lili Mkryan, to alternative measures.

We believe that there are sufficient grounds to apply a similar approach to Ashot Hovhannisyan, as, in comparison, a greater number and substance of procedural actions have been conducted with his participation than with any other defendant's participation. Therefore, if we follow the Prosecutor's rationale that the exhaustion of the investigative volume, especially one that is significant for the correct resolution of the case, serves as a basis for recognizing a decrease in the legality of intervening in the investigation, then Ashot Hovhannisyan's case is the classic best example of this situation," the statement concluded.