I Am Satisfied With This Decision: Tiran Khachatryan on His Release

The former deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Tiran Khachatryan, expressed satisfaction with the decision to release him from detention. He made this statement near the Court of General Jurisdiction of Kotayk region while responding to journalists' questions.

It is noteworthy that the court recently released Tiran Khachatryan and chose a bail of 5 million drams and a prohibition from leaving the country as preventive measures.

"This is not final yet, but I am satisfied with this decision for this interim stage. What has happened and my expectation was that a decision like this should be made; it wasn't exactly this. The trial is still underway, so I can't share details, but I also stated in my testimony that I do not recognize myself as guilty. By nature, character, and essence, I am not the kind of person who would allow himself to commit such acts," Khachatryan said.

When journalists pointed out that a gunshot had been fired, injuring one person, the lieutenant general responded that everything would be clarified later regarding the circumstances surrounding the shooting and how the injury occurred.

The former deputy head of the Armed Forces General Staff assured that he had not attempted to harm anyone, especially not to injure anyone, despite having had the opportunity to do much worse things.

Khachatryan also noted that he observed a biased approach against him during the preliminary investigation. He tends to think that this is related to his political position.

It is recalled that on January 12, it became known that a dispute had occurred among about 10 individuals during a gathering at a restaurant near "Eriki" in the Kotayk region. According to the Investigative Committee, during the argument, Tiran Khachatryan fired a gun into the air, and when attendees attempted to stop him and take the gun away, he fired another shot, resulting in a gunshot wound to one of the customers who exited from another room of the restaurant.

On January 13, 2024, Tiran Khachatryan was charged with a criminal act under Part 3 of Article 297 of the Criminal Code of Armenia (hooliganism committed with a weapon or an object prepared or adapted for causing bodily harm or through the threat of its use). Remand as a preventive measure was chosen against him, and three others are also detained in connection with this case.