The Detention of Alen Simonyan's Brother's Wife Declared Unlawful

The Anti-Corruption Court judge, Mari Mosinyan, had issued a decision on February 1, 2024, to detain Ani Gevorgyan, the wife of the brother of the President of the National Assembly of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, in connection with a criminal case involving the Ministry of Economy of Armenia. However, the Supreme Court, after reviewing the materials, determined that this decision was unlawful and that several significant circumstances were not taken into account when making it.

Specifically, the Supreme Court noted that lower courts misjudged the factual data available in the case materials when assessing the likelihood of Ani Gevorgyan obstructing the criminal proceedings. It was overlooked that, during the events outlined in the charges, Gevorgyan had already resigned from her position at 'Synergy' company and was no longer an employee of the organization, which inherently reduces her likelihood of obstructing the criminal proceedings.

At the same time, the Supreme Court found that lower courts failed to appropriately consider the fact that Ani Gevorgyan has two young children while discussing the legality of using detention as a preventative measure against her. In such circumstances, the lower courts violated the principle of minimum necessity as defined in Article 18, Part 2 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia when selecting coercive measures against Gevorgyan. They did not adequately explore the possibility of applying alternative measures to ensure the person’s lawful behavior during the criminal proceedings.

In summary, the Supreme Court concluded that the lower courts' conclusions regarding the legality of applying detention as a preventative measure against Ani Gevorgyan were unjustified.

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