Ex-minister`s lawyer intends to apply to ECHR

ArmInfo.The defense of the former Minister of Economy of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan, who is under house  arrest, intends to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after exhausting all possibilities within the national courts, the lawyer of the former minister, Tigran Yegoryan, told a press  conference on April 17.

According to the lawyer, the investigation into the case started at  the beginning of 2023, large-scale operational search activities were  carried out and in January of this year. The public stage of the  criminal case began. Representatives of the public and private  sectors were detained and then arrested. <After 3 months we can  record that there are only 8 accused in the case. According to the  official version, the case is that within the framework of the  tender, a biased attitude was shown towards one of the participants,  and actions were taken to ensure the latter's victory. It is on the  basis of this assumption that this case is being investigated,"  Yegoryan noted.

Meanwhile, over the past 12 months, all kinds of evidence within the  framework of the law have been collected, the lawyer noted. At the  same time, in his assessment, the actions of law enforcement officers  were unlawful, both in their duration and in the methods of obtaining  information. In particular, unfounded operational and investigative  measures were carried out, which led to significant interference in  personal life. And most importantly, they did not give the "desired"  result, he noted.

Over the past period, the preliminary investigation body had to take  stock of the work done, take appropriate actions, identifying the  necessary grounds and evidence for the accusation, and then send the  case to court or terminate it. "These actions could have been carried  out in 2-3 months, but we see that this was not done. Moreover, Mr.  Kerobyan patiently, without unnecessary noise or nervous  manifestations, waited at home and gave the investigation the time  necessary," the lawyer noted.

However, in fact, over the past 2 months the investigation has again  studied all the documents that had already been studied before. Also  in February, all face-to-face bidding was completed. And in  March-April repeated interrogations were carried out. The data is  already recorded on disks and media and does not require restrictions  on the accused, fearing that they may somehow influence the content  of these materials.  At the same time, according to Yegorian, of all  the defendants in the case, only Kerobyan is under house arrest;  there are even those who have returned to work, including in the  Ministry of Economy. At the same time, the ex-head of the Ministry of  Economy is limited in communication, except for close relatives and a  lawyer. Even remotely, he cannot work and earn money, meanwhile he  has 5 children and a mother in his care. He is not even allowed to  see a doctor, including a dentist, or a hairdresser. Kerobyan is  allowed to go to the hospital only in case of a threat to life. At  the same time, he has loan obligations, and financial resources are  already running out.

The goal of the investigation, according to the lawyer, is to apply  socio-economic and financial pressure on Kerobyan using old methods.  "The task is to break a person, to apply pressure, to create  socio-economic difficult conditions that affect the dignity of a  person, which in the future should give some result to the  investigation," Yegoryan noted.

According to him, Kerobyan's defense understood that soon other  defendants in the case would be released due to the fact that they  "gave testimony on circumstances of significant importance for the  criminal proceedings" (in particular, the head of the Synergy  company, the daughter-in-law of the Speaker of Parliament Anya  Gevorkyan and Lily Mkryan, employee of <Synergy> - ed.). "Initially  the target was Kerobyan. This whole combination was built in order to  carry out prosecution (criminal) against him:  However, there is no  decision yet regarding the outcome of the case," said the lawyer.

Kerobyan, who announced his resignation on February 14, is accused of  abuse and exceeding official powers in a case of abuse in the  Ministry of Economy of Armenia. According to the investigation, there  are eight suspects in the case, five of them are high-ranking  officials of the Ministry of Economy, three are representatives of  the company that won the competition to create the Bank of State  Investment Projects in 2022. Kerobyan does not admit guilt. The  Anti-Corruption Court in Yerevan sent him under arrest on February 16  house arrest for a period of two months, which was recently extended  for another 2 months.