The criminal prosecution against Robert Kocharyan has not started recently; the criminal case was transferred to the Anti-Corruption Committee back in January 2024,” said David Kostandyan, head of the department for investigating corruption crimes against property at the Anti-Corruption Committee, during a broadcast on Public Television.
According to the official, at the time of receiving the case, public criminal prosecution had already been initiated against Robert Kocharyan's son, Sedrak Kocharyan, Alexander Voskanian, and Serzh Sargsyan.
“We have completed the investigation in this part in a very short time and sent the indictment to the court. Extensive investigative and procedural actions have already been carried out regarding the remaining episodes,” Kostandyan noted.
He emphasized that the criminal case is multi-episode, including alleged abuses in the privatization process of several dozen real estate properties, transfers, and loans of billions of drams.
“About 20 requests for legal assistance have been sent to other countries. It takes quite a long time to receive responses to them, and investigations are being conducted in this regard. After collecting all the data and conducting verification and investigative actions, evaluations have been given to specific actions regarding the episodes. Currently, criminal prosecution has been initiated against 10 individuals, but the preliminary investigation is still ongoing, and there are episodes for which final evaluations have not yet been given, meaning the investigation is still continuing,” said the representative of the Anti-Corruption Committee.
David Kostandyan also denied reports that the prosecution against Kocharyan began on August 25: “The public criminal prosecution against Robert Kocharyan did not start on August 25, but he was already involved in this case as a defendant back in April.”
According to Kostandyan, in April, Kocharyan was involved as a defendant in one episode, and a prohibition on absence was chosen as a measure of restraint against him. Later, due to newly emerged circumstances and data, the charge was changed, and the investigator applied to the court with a request to choose arrest as a measure of restraint.
The official assured that there has been no inaction during the investigation of the criminal case, and currently, 60 investigators are involved in the investigative group formed by the order of the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee, all of whom are engaged in the investigation of the case.
Commenting on the nature of the charges, Kostandyan noted: “They relate to specific abuses in the privatization process of state property, as well as money laundering and receiving bribes.”
According to him, the charges mainly concern abuse of official position, legalization of property acquired by criminal means, and receiving bribes.
More details in the video.
