Prison Officials Charged with Accepting Bribes from Inmates and Detainees

The Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia has revealed instances of prison staff accepting bribes in exchange for smuggling prohibited items to inmates and detainees.

Specifically, sufficient evidence has been gathered in the pre-investigation activities that an employee of the Security Department of the "Armavir" penitentiary, identified as A. S., reached an agreement with a convict at the same facility to transfer prohibited items—including mobile phones and other devices—for a bribe of 465,000 AMD.

According to the arrangement, A. S. was to receive between 20,000 and 40,000 AMD for each mobile phone brought into the facility and passed on to the convict. To carry out his criminal intent, A. S. met with the convict's relatives, who transferred a total of 465,000 AMD to him in cash and non-cash forms between July and November 2022, in exchange for which he smuggled prohibited items into the penitentiary and handed them over to the convict.

In another criminal case investigated by the Anti-Corruption Committee, it was revealed that another employee of the Security Department of the "Armavir" penitentiary, Kh. M., also arranged to transfer mobile phones to an inmate in exchange for a bribe. After receiving the bribe, Kh. M. attempted to bring the mobile phones into the penitentiary on February 11, 2024, but was unsuccessful as the phones were discovered and seized during a search conducted by the relevant penitentiary staff.

Additionally, in another case, a nurse from the "Penitentiary Medicine Center" under the Ministry of Health of Armenia reached an agreement to transfer prohibited items, including mobile phones and chargers, into the "Vanadzor" penitentiary for a bribe of 100,000 AMD in exchange for a convict. However, this arrangement was not completed as the nurse was subjected to a thorough personal search by the staff of the "Vanadzor" penitentiary upon her arrival for work, during which the prohibited items were found and confiscated from her.

Charges have been filed against two officials from the "Armavir" penitentiary and the nurse from the "Penitentiary Medicine Center" for accepting bribes, while two convicts and one inmate face charges for bribing them. The pre-investigation phase in the criminal proceedings has been concluded, and the materials have been sent to the court for consideration.

Note: A person accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the established procedure of the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia by a legally binding verdict of the court.