The judge who arrested Arsen Gevorkyan, who died in pretrial detention, has recused himself from the case.

ArmInfo. Judge Aram Grigoryan of the Anti-Corruption Court of Armenia, who ordered the arrest of Strong Armenia candidate Arsen Gevorgyan, who died in prison, has recused himself from the case.

According to a statement posted in the Datalex legal documents system, the judge made this decision after various publications by individuals and news websites claimed that Gevorgyan's death was related to the circumstances of his detention. "Although I believe I am capable of maintaining impartiality in these proceedings, the above-mentioned circumstances may raise reasonable doubts in an objective observer. This may call into question the objectivity of the entire criminal trial, as well as the fairness of the judicial decisions made in the criminal case." "Therefore, in the interests of justice, it is necessary to recuse myself," the statement reads.

According to the source, the case has been assigned to Judge Vardges Sargsyan.

As a reminder, on October 21, the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia opened a criminal case against Arsen Gevorgyan, who headed the proportional list of the Strong Armenia party in the Stepanavan Municipal Council elections, and 13 other individuals. It was later reported that the court ordered Gevorgyan to be arrested for two months. Five others were sentenced to two-month pretrial detention or house arrest. He died in custody on November 10. The cause was a heart attack.

It's worth noting that the day before the criminal case was opened, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan offered to write to him personally to citizens and candidates for community heads in the local government elections who were under pressure from the ruling party, "Civil Contract." However, by the evening of that same day, he himself began threatening opposition representatives. It's worth noting that all of this occurred before the local government elections in Stepanavan.