The preventive measure against Aregnaz Manukyan has been changed to house arrest — lawyer

Arminfo.  Based on a motion by the defense, the pretrial measure against Aregnaz Manukyan, a member of the board of the party, was changed to house arrest with a ban on communicating with other persons. Attorney Tatevik Soghoyan told journalists about this on September 22 following the court hearing.

She recalled that the previous pretrial measure had been detention, but there had been no restrictions related to communication. Now, however, Manukyan has been prohibited from communicating. The attorney found it difficult to name the reasons for the court’s decision, allowing that it could have been related to a visit by members of parliament or caused by other reasons. , Soghoyan said.

Referring to the Criminal Code, she noted that the charge against Aregnaz Manukyan constitutes a medium-gravity crime, the punishment for which should have been either a fine or detention for 2 months. In the case of more serious offenses, it ranges from 3 to 5 years. , the attorney said.

Let us recall that on July 9, Aregnaz Manukyan, a member of the political council of the "Mother Armenia" party and a former member of the Armenian parliament, was detained and subsequently placed under two months’ arrest. According to the Investigative Committee, public criminal prosecution was initiated against Aregnaz Manukyan as part of the proceedings under Part 1 of Article 427 of the Criminal Code (disclosure of information containing a state secret).

The investigative actions were carried out as part of a criminal case concerning espionage and high treason, in which Andranik Tevanyan, leader of the "Mother Armenia" party, had previously been arrested.  Manukyan is suspected of passing Tevanyan classified data concerning the Armed Forces of Armenia that had been presented at a closed parliamentary meeting.

On August 18, the investigation into the case was completed, and the materials were sent to court; however, both Tevanyan and Manukyan continued to remain in a pretrial detention center. The trial against representatives of the "Mother Armenia" party began on September 8. The hearings are being presided over by Judge John Hayrapetyan.-