The Anti-Corruption Court of Armenia held its first hearing in the case of the Yerevan Mayor`s Advisor.

ArmInfo. The first preliminary hearing in the case of Yerevan Mayoral Advisor Kamo Areyan, chaired by Judge Sarkis Petrosyan, began in the Anti-Corruption Court of Armenia.

Tigran Avinyan and Kamo Areyan's attorney made statements.

According to the prosecutor, Areyan caused significant damage to the interests of the state. Thus, a land plot with the status of a specially protected area, a public green zone, and a recreation park, which is state property and not subject to alienation, valued at 98,886,000 drams, was alienated in favor of a public organization and removed from the state balance sheet, resulting in serious consequences for the state.

As a reminder, Kamo Areyan is accused of having, from July 12, 2003 to July 6, 2009, while serving as First Deputy Mayor of Yerevan and as an official permanently performing organizational and administrative functions in the local government, authorized the alienation of a 6,000 square meter state-owned land plot located at the intersection of Azatutyan Avenue and Babayan Street and included in the list of restrictions stipulated by Article 60 of the RA Land Code, to the non-governmental organization "Bridge between the Homeland and the Diaspora." Kamo Areyan abused his official powers in the process of alienation of a land plot, which entailed serious consequences for the legitimate interests of society and the state.

Kamo Areyan's defense, in turn, drew attention to the fact that the prosecutor accuses Areyan of abuse of office

while noting that he constantly performed organizational and administrative functions in the local government body. The defense disputes this assertion, noting that Kamo Areyan, who held the position of First Deputy Mayor of Yerevan from 2003 to 2009, could not be considered an official constantly performing organizational and administrative functions in local government bodies. The defense referred to paragraph 1.7 of the 1997 decree of the President of the Republic of Armenia, according to which it was the Mayor of Yerevan who headed The municipality through which state administration in the capital of Armenia was carried out. According to the defense, this implies that the Yerevan Municipality exercised state administration at that time, and therefore Kamo Areyan could not perform any functions in the local government system under the specific conditions of this administration defined by law. The defense also presented the municipality's operating structure and personnel structure to the court. "When we consider the mayor's powers, the question arises: how did the prosecution define the powers of the deputy mayor if we have a government decision that clearly defines these powers?" the lawyer noted.

The defense motioned to lift the preventive measure imposed on Kamo Areyan in the form of a written undertaking not to leave. The motion was granted, after which the court hearing was adjourned.

It should be noted that Kamo Areyan himself does not accept the charges against him. He intends to justify his disagreement with it, declaring that, as an official, he had no authority or involvement in these land transactions on Azatutyan Avenue.

Considering the fact that the court will be on vacation, the next court hearing is scheduled for September 30.