Tonoyan Proposes to Pashinyan to Personally Inspect Missiles Together

Former Armenian Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan has issued a statement: "After being unlawfully and unjustly detained for 2 years and 7 months, the request from my defense team to change the measure of restraint was again rejected yesterday by Judge Vahe Dolmazian of the Anti-Corruption Court of Armenia. This request was made in light of the fact that another procedural phase ended on April 9, 2024, in the criminal case presented to the public as the 'missile case,' and the court officially announced the completion of the trial.

During the initial stages of the investigation, statements made by the investigating body purposefully created a damaging impression regarding the condition of the missiles, their acquisition cost, and other aspects of the case, leading to a public perception of guilt towards me and other individuals involved as if it were an established fact.

Considering the assessment provided in the 2023 annual report by the Human Rights Defender regarding the situation that expressions related to the alleged crime and the personal culpability should not form a biased perception of the crime's commission as an established fact in the absence of a legally effective judicial act, I reserve the right to address several important issues within the limits of already published information.

Until now, the evidence presented during the trial that had no connection with the charges has included missiles manufactured in Russia, recognized as tangible evidence three years ago, which are in pristine condition, significantly differing from the impressions presented to the public about them. During the inspection, the judge ignored my position regarding checking the entire quantity of missiles mentioned in my accusatory conclusion. The judge also overlooked my request to inspect, on-site, the missiles that were imported in the same batch and whose usage terms were extended per an order from the Minister of Defense of Armenia due to their accounting in the Armed Forces, and compare them with the missiles recognized as tangible evidence in this case.

The court also failed to secure the participation of an expert in the inspection process, which has continuously served as a basis for my detention for at least the last year, raising the risk of possible illegal influence on the tangible evidence I had considered. Despite this, the court has not been able to discover the discharged expert from the Armed Forces over the course of two months.

The results of the inspection refuted the assessments of the missiles provided by known circles, which were labeled as 'low quality,' 'unusable,' and 'expired,' and one can conclude from the aforementioned attitude of the judge that merely examining part of the missiles was sufficient for him to form an internal conviction about their actual condition.

Considering my belief that the Prime Minister is pursuing me, as well as being aware that Pashinyan has issues trusting specialists, I propose that he personally conduct another inspection of the missiles in question with me and address without hesitation the questions he has regarding both armaments and other topics of public interest in the presence of the media. If the head of a country facing existential challenges has time to inspect the quality of school locker hooks, let him find time to 'inspect' the missiles necessary for ensuring the operational readiness of the Air Force as well."