Criminal Case Against Areyan and Zakharian

During a meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Legal Affairs, Armenia's Chief Prosecutor Anna Vardapetyan presented a report on the activities of the Prosecutor's Office for 2025. In response to a question about the return of the Monument villas to the state, she stated: “We are working in two directions regarding the Monument villas. We have instances of claims related to the confiscation of property of illegal origin, which includes these villas that we demand as illegal property. The other direction is the investigation initiated in 2018, which is still underway at the Anti-Corruption Committee, and we plan to inform the public about certain progress this year. We believe that by the end of this year we will also see progress in the criminal proceedings. For several individuals who own villas in these areas, we have submitted claims for the confiscation of illegal property to the court.”

“Haykakan Zhamanak” has addressed a written inquiry to the Prosecutor's Office to clarify what progress has been recorded in the criminal proceedings. In response to our inquiry, they stated: “On April 23, 2026, the Prosecutor initiated public criminal prosecution against the former mayor of Yerevan, Yervand Zakharian, under part 2 of Article 308 of the Criminal Code adopted on April 18, 2003 (2 instances) (abuse of official power resulting in serious consequences due to negligence). The criminal proceedings have established that Yervand Zakharian, who served as mayor from July 1, 2003, until March 4, 2009, abused his official powers in the processes of alienating state-owned land located at the intersection of Azatutyun Avenue and Babayan Street, which is included in the list of lands not subject to alienation as per Article 60 of the Land Code, with an area of 6000 sq. m., to the NGO “Homeland-Diaspora Bridge” and to the NGO “Saint Lazarus” for a similar area. Specifically, lands valued at a total cadastre price of 197 million 712 thousand drams, located within the zones designated for public green spaces and intended for recreation, were sold to public organizations through direct sale. As a result of the alienation, the city of Yerevan has lost a total of 12,000 sq. m. of green space; the area, which was previously accessible for walking and leisure, has become a fenced private area following the alienation.

The prosecutor initiated public criminal prosecutions on the same day against Arsen Lalayan, who held the position of head of the Department of Architecture and Urban Development of the Yerevan City Hall from September 15, 2006, until April 11, 2008, and against Gagik Mazmanyan, who served as head of the Department of Real Estate Management from September 24, 2004, to September 28, 2007. On May 18, 2026, the prosecutor also initiated criminal prosecution against Kamo Areyan, who served as the first deputy mayor of Yerevan from July 12, 2003, until July 6, 2009.