Wednesday, August 26 2020 15:25

ArmInfo.Yerem Sargsyan, lawyer of former Minister of Finance Gagik Khachatryan, is petitioning to change the measure of restraint in relation to his client. Sargsyan stated that he doubts the expediency of the arrest.

The lawyer stressed the fact that the court had not yet examined the  reasons presented by the defense for the release of Khachatryan.  According to the defense, the statements of the prosecution that  Khachatryan may obstruct the investigation are groundless. Moreover,  the state of health of the former finance minister is incompatible  with detention.

The lawyer also stressed that it is necessary to cancel the arrest of  Khachatryan's bank accounts, since the ECHR issued a decision,  according to which Khachatryan received the right to undergo  treatment at his own expense by inviting foreign doctors. However, in  order to pay for the treatment, the arrest must be lifted from the  accounts of the former finance minister. Sargsyan also stressed that  on August 19, the defense applied to the court with a request to  cancel the arrest, but the court did not discuss this request.

In turn, the prosecution stressed that the evidence presented by the  prosecution is in the case file and will be presented at the right  time. To note, Khacharyan is not present at the hearing for health  reasons.

To recall, the former super minister of finance and state revenues,  the richest official in Armenia, the beneficiary of many companies,  Gagik Khachatryan, was charged under paragraph 3 of part 2 of article  308 (abuse of office, entailing serious consequences by negligence),  paragraph 1 of part 3 of article 179 (assignment or embezzlement on  an especially large scale), clause 1 of part 3 of article 38-179,  clause 2 of part 4 of article 311 (bribe taking), clause 1 of part 3  of article 38-190 and part 1 of article 314 (official forgery) of the  RA Criminal Code.