Appeals Court Did Not Say Home Arrest Was Wrong, Just That It Was Early - Vardevanyan

"The judge of the Appeals Anti-Corruption Court, Suren Khachatryan, did not state that home arrest should not have been applied to Samvel Karapetyan, but rather mentioned that it was too early to initiate proceedings on this issue and that it should have been done later. He annulled the decision to initiate proceedings," said Aram Vardevanyan, the attorney for businessman Samvel Karapetyan, during a press briefing outside the Anti-Corruption Court.

“The ruling was annulled under a technical justification that lies in the realm of fantasy. However, he did not indicate that the decision regarding the application of home arrest should be nullified, or that, for instance, imprisonment should be applied. According to the Criminal Procedure Code, if there is an intensive measure of restraint—either arrest or home arrest—an application for extension must be submitted 5 days before its expiration. In the case of Samvel Karapetyan, the investigation body reported that it expired on January 13, and a request was made to extend the term of home arrest by the investigator. This was considered by the judge, proceedings were initiated, and today at 16:00, a court session has been scheduled. The Criminal Procedure Code does not provide for any procedure for changing the measure of restraint if there is an established time limit; it does not foresee that. Either let them come and record that the Criminal Procedure Code is being set aside in Armenia, or they will simply have to reconsider the application for extending the home arrest, to which we have an objection," Vardevanyan added.

Earlier, it was reported that the Appeals Anti-Corruption Court annulled the decision of Judge Sarkis Petrosyan, who had imposed home arrest on businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan. A measure of restraint of arrest for a two-month period has been chosen for Samvel Karapetyan.