A Public Criminal Prosecution Launched Against Serzh Sargsyan: Why

The third President of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, is facing a new public criminal prosecution on charges of bribery. This was announced by the Office of the Prosecutor General.

"The prosecutor initiated a public criminal prosecution against Serzh Sargsyan on November 5, 2025, under the provisions of Article 311, Part 4, Clause 2 of the Criminal Code adopted on April 18, 2003, which corresponds to Article 435, Part 3, Clause 3 of the current Criminal Code," the Prosecutor's Office stated.

In 2019, Serzh Sargsyan was charged with Article 38-179, Part 3, Clause 1 of the RA Criminal Code for embezzlement or misappropriation of particularly large sums. According to the indictment, with the organization of Serzh Sargsyan and the instigation of Barsel Beglaryan, with the assistance of Samvel Galstyan and Gevorg Harutyunyan, a particularly large sum amounting to 489,160,310 AMD was misappropriated by Sergo Karapetyan from the state reserve fund allocated for state support programs. This occurred during the period between January 25 and February 7, 2013, for the 15,391,765 liters of diesel fuel sold.

The former president did not accept the charges against him. On May 31, 2024, the First Instance Court acquitted the third president of Armenia and the other individuals involved in the case due to lack of corpus delicti. The court decision lifted the restrictive measures against Serzh Sargsyan, Barsel Beglaryan, and Gevorg Harutyunyan, including the prohibition on leaving the country.

The Appeals Anti-Corruption Court upheld the appeal of the Prosecutor's Office and annulled the court act acquitting Serzh Sargsyan and others, sending the case for re-examination.