ArmInfo. A criminal case was opened on the fact of corruption in the process of transfer of ownership of an 83-year-old resident of Yerevan, Yuri Vardanyan, on Buzand Street and on the basis of a decision of the European Court of Human Rights on violation of his rights.
According to the press service of the General Prosecutor's Office, the case was opened at the request of the MP of the "My Step" faction Arusyak Julakyan about the alleged crime noted in the decision of the European Court of Human Rights on July 25, 2019 on compensation by Armenia of Yuri Vardanyan for 1.6 million euros and publication in the media in 2012 that in order to obtain the right to build on the Buzand street by "Vizkon" company, a US citizen of Armenian origin Pavel Anderson gave a bribe to officials of the Yerevan Municipality.
According to the publication, P. Anderson personally and through his colleague gave bribes to officials of the former administration of Yerevan Municipality in the amount of 550 thousand US dollars and 200 thousand US dollars, and he gave bribes to judges of various instances in court cases on eviction of residents in the amount of 300 to 5,000 US dollars.
Anderson also said that by order of the former head of the Presidential Administration, he transferred $ 100,000 to the account of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund in order to obtain the right to alienate the property of Yuri Vardanyan and declare his land plot of priority public interest.
During the preparation of the materials, relevant documents were requested and received from the judicial departments of Armenia and the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. It turned out that on August 1, 2006, on behalf of P. Anderson, the fund actually received an amount of $ 100,000.
Given that the prepared materials show signs of crime, in connection with the abuse of authority by an official and the receipt of bribes by officials on an especially large scale, a criminal case has been opened on the grounds of abuse of authority, entailing reckless consequences, taking a bribe on an especially large scale giving a bribe to an official in person or through an intermediary.
To conduct a preliminary investigation, the criminal case was sent to the RA Special Investigation Service.
To recall, according to the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights, Armenia is obliged to pay 1 million 608 thousand euros to a citizen of Armenia Yuri Vardanyan. This is the largest amount of compensation that the European Court has ever awarded in relation to Armenia. In 2016, the ECHR ruled that the rights of 83-year-old Vardanyan were violated, as he was deprived of the opportunity to a fair trial and protection of property.
Earlier, the Vardanan family lived in their own house with an area of 1385 square meters at 13 Buzand St.. During the presidency of Robert Kocharyan, the property of Vardanyan was selected and transferred to the state based on the "priority public interest>.
In a verdict of 2016, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that in the trial of the case, the Cassation Court of Armenia, chaired by Arman Mkrtumyan, did not demonstrate an objective position, thereby violating the human right to a fair trial.
Armenian human rights activists consider this an unprecedented verdict, since it indicates the name of a particular judge, however, the ECHR rarely resorts to such a measure. In this regard, many human rights activists demanded the resignation of Mkrtumyan, but he left his post only after the "velvet revolution".