Vardan Ghukasian Testifies on Alteration of His Voice in Recordings: Anti-Corruption Committee

Considering the public outcry and numerous inquiries addressed to the investigative body by the media regarding the apparent criminal offenses committed by a group of officials in the Gyumri community involving bribery and abuse of power, the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia announces that petitions have been submitted to the court for custodial measures against five of the eight arrested individuals. Among them, a detention was chosen for the community leader, while house arrest was selected for one of the bribe-givers, with the investigation continuing for the others.

Decisions have also been made to suspend the official duties of certain officials. This information comes from the Anti-Corruption Committee.

Regarding the claims circulated in the media suggesting that the recordings involving the Gyumri community leader are fabricated and unrelated to him, the Anti-Corruption Committee deems it necessary to clarify that the community leader neither confirmed nor denied the occurrence of conversations with such content in his testimony, and furthermore, he did not provide information regarding his voice being altered or modified in the recordings, instead presenting his own clarifications and comments on the conversation.

Additionally, several individuals interrogated within the scope of the criminal proceedings have provided confessional testimonies confirming the reliability of the factual data obtained through operational-intelligence measures. The investigation in the criminal proceedings continues.