Arthur Davtyan: Armenia continues to insist on extradition of former  Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer 

ArmInfo.Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia continues to insist on the need to extradite former Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer  of the Republic of Armenia  Mihran Poghosyan. Prosecutor General of Armenia Arthur Davtyan stated  this on November 29 in an interview with reporters.

Yesterday, it was reported that, in Russia the preventive measure  against former Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer  Mihran Poghosyan  was canceled. As reported by the RA Prosecutor General's Office, the  reason for the cancellation of house arrest is unknown to the  Armenian Prosecutor's

According to Davtyan, a few months ago, when Moscow refused to  extradite Pogosyan to Yerevan, it was clear that the preventive  measure against him would be changed. As the Prosecutor General  explained, in case of refusal of extradition, the host country does  not have the right to detain him further.

Nevertheless, given that the criminal case, according to Davtyan, is  in a rather active phase, the Armenian law enforcers continue  discussions with their Russian counterparts. "I do not exclude that  during the investigation of the case there will be new episodes of  more serious crimes. In this regard, we hope that our Russian  colleagues will take a more fair and legal approach," said the  Prosecutor General.

When asked if the accusation brought against Poghosyan today is not  connected with the commission of a grave crime and the grounds for  his extradition, Davtyan replied: "In this situation, it is what it  is."

On a remark about whether the extradition of Mihran Poghosyan or his  detention could harm the sovereignty and security of the country that  issued him, since the Russian Federation refused to extradite  referring to this article of the relevant international Convention of  1993, Arthur Davtyan stated: "I have the same questions and we're  trying to get answers from Russian colleagues. " At the same time,  the head of the supervisory authority emphasized that there are  certain procedures related to the asylum process that countries,  under international conventions, are not entitled to disclose.

To recall, former Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer  of Armenia,  the Major- General of Justice, former MP from the Republican Party of  Armenia (RPA) faction Mihran Poghosyan was previously put on the  wanted list. Mihran Poghosyan is accused of illegal business, tax  evasion and money laundering.  On April 21, the Special Investigation  Service reported that Poghosyan was detained in Russia at the request  of the Armenian side. On April 23, the Petrozavodsk City Court  granted the request of the Armenian side and arrested Poghosyan for  40 days. On May 24, the judge appointed Pogosyan a six-month house  arrest. In August this year the RA Prosecutor General's Office has  reported that Russia will not extradite former Chief Compulsory  Enforcement Officer  Mihran Poghosyan to Armenia.

According to information received from the Prosecutor General's  Office of the Russian Federation, the satisfaction of the request for  the extradition of Mihran Poghosyan with the aim of criminalizing him  was not assessed as possible, taking as a basis the clauses of  Article 19 of the Convention of January 22, 1993 on Legal Assistance  and Legal Relations in civil, family and criminal matters. "