Mysteries Continue in Courts: People Released from Detention in 'Kanakertsi Tuyi' Case

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" reports that the mysteries surrounding the murder case of 'Kanakertsi Tuyi' continue in the courts. The courts are surprisingly releasing three individuals charged with murder from detention.

Specifically, ArmLur previously reported that Judge Manvel Shahverdyan of the Yerevan City Court of General Jurisdiction has twice released and applied house arrest as a preventive measure for Hovhannes Simonian, who is accused of murdering three individuals with illegally acquired firearms. Notably, after the initial release from detention, the Court of Appeals overturned that decision based on appeals from the prosecutor and the victim, re-imposing detention on the accused. However, Judge Manvel Shahverdyan did not hesitate to revoke Hovhannes Simonian's detention once again, despite the Court of Appeals' decision.

Of course, the prosecutor and the victim's side appealed this decision again, leading to the Court of Appeals overturning it once more. Anyone familiar with the courts will immediately note that a judge's decision to impose house arrest for such serious crimes in this context is quite peculiar, given that for less severe offenses, judges, including Manvel Shahverdyan, do not apply house arrest. In this instance, it is not sufficient that he has applied it once; now, six months after the Court of Appeals overturned that decision, Judge Shahverdyan has again applied house arrest for Hovhannes Simonian.

However, the mysteries do not end there. According to information received by ArmLur, Judge Eduard Mkrtchyan has now released Tigran Harutyunyan, who is accused of the murder of 'Kanakertsi Tuyi' and his two associates, from detention and applied house arrest as a preventive measure. Harutyunyan had been on the run for six months, and a search warrant had been issued for him. This is why his case is being heard separately.

Interestingly, the judge justified the decision to replace detention with house arrest by stating that the law enforcement officers transporting the detainees to court had failed to transport Tigran Harutyunyan on several occasions or had done so late. This implies that if the state fails to fulfill its obligations and for some reason does not transport the detainee to court or is late in doing so, then the judge should release him from detention.

However, similar releases do not occur in other cases, especially in political ones. It remains to be understood what invisible hand is intervening in this case, leading to different judges exhibiting such lenient behavior towards those accused of the murder of three individuals. It's worth noting that Hovhannes Manukyan's father-in-law was previously the head of the Republic of Armenia's Civil Court of Appeals and Administrative Court of Appeals.