An Armenian court has allowed prosecutors to confiscate around 630 million drams ($1.7 million) in cash, properties and other assets belonging to former President Serzh Sarkisian in a ruling denounced by his lawyer as illegal.
The prosecutors moved to seize them in 2023, invoking a controversial law that allows the nationalization of assets deemed to have been acquired illegally.
The Western-backed law enacted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government in 2020 requires former officials as well as their close relatives targeted by the prosecutors to prove the legality of their holdings even if they are not found guilty of corruption or other criminal offenses.
Pashinian has for years portrayed it as a major anti-corruption measure that will help his government recover “wealth stolen from the people.” Armenian opposition figures say, however, that Pashinian has selectively used the law to try to suppress dissent and cement his hold on power.
Sarkisian’s lawyer, Amram Makinian, said his client will appeal against the “illegal and unsubstantiated” ruling handed down by a court of first instance.
The 72-year-old ex-president, who ruled the country from 2008-2018 and leads the opposition Republican Party of Armenia, is also facing corruption charges in four separate cases rejected by him as politically motivated.
